


My Lonely Days Are Through

by liv_alittle



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Mamma Mia! AU, Minor Character Death, Weddings, implied xiaodery, mentioned jaewin, past jaemyang, past markmin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25191226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liv_alittle/pseuds/liv_alittle
Summary: Jisung is set to marry the love of his life soon, but before he shares his undying love for Chenle in front of his friends and family, he wants to learn about the only man his dad, Jaemin, ever loved, so he steals his dad's diary. The problem is, there are three potential candidates presented, and Jisung can't seem to figure out which one Jaemin was in love with. Jisung's solution? Invite all three of them to his wedding without telling his dad.OrNomin and Chenji Mamma Mia! AU
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 40
Kudos: 239





	1. I Have A Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, I'm so excited to be putting this fic out here! I've had so much fun writing it so far and it's really helped me realize my love for writing once more. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Unbeta'd bc I haven't told anyone I know that I wrote this
> 
> Link to fic playlist [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/72c7oEiPOZWF3tX1yxwDAE)! (Listen in order for plot)

When Jisung told his dad that for Father’s Day he would start cleaning out and organizing the attic, he really didn’t have any nefarious intent. Sure, Jisung  _ was  _ hoping he might find some of his dad’s old things that clued him into what his dad was like when he was younger; Jisung may or may not have also hoped that he would specifically find some clues of what his dad’s love life was like. What Jisung was not trying to do or expecting to happen was to find his father’s diary from when he was eighteen.

And, well, what was Jisung supposed to do, pretend like he didn’t see it?  _ Not  _ read the diary? Of course not. Jisung did the logical thing anyone would do when finding their parent’s top secret diary from when they were young-- he hid it from his dad until he found the appropriate time to read it alone.

Six months had passed since Jisung found the diary, and he had more or less forgotten about it-- until his boyfriend proposed, that is. 

Chenle, sweet, perfect Chenle asked Jisung to marry him on the beach under the stars after a romantic, candlelit dinner despite the fact that Chenle only wanted to sign some papers to be legally married. Instead he pulled out all the stops knowing that Jisung dreamed of a big, white wedding.

Jisung still didn’t think of the diary that night though. He did, however, when he called his dad the next morning to share the news.

Jaemin was ecstatic for his only child, though he was also noticeably cautious. 

“I can’t believe my Jisungie is engaged… you’re still so young, you’re still just a baby,” he had said. “I was once young and in love before, you know? Too young… I was foolish.”

“Dad,” Jisung whined, “this is different. I’m graduating this year and I’ve been dating Chenle since I was seventeen, it’s not like we’re rushing or anything.”

Of course, Jaemin refuted Jisung’s claim that they weren’t rushing when he told his father he and Chenle wanted to have the wedding in six months by the end of June. As Jaemin ranted to his son about how much he would have to set up at the hotel for the wedding, Jisung remembered the diary he had found and swore he would read it as soon as he returned home since he had left in his room.

“Hey dad?” Jisung cut off Jaemin. “Don’t clean my room, I’ll do that when I get home, okay?”

“Ooh are you hiding something?”

“No, dad, it’s just-- it’s my responsibility and--”

“Don’t worry Jisungie, I won’t snoop. Besides, there are some things a dad just doesn’t want to know.” Jaemin giggled.

Almost a year had passed by the time Jisung finally read his dad’s diary. It had been two weeks since he graduated college, ten days since he last saw Chenle, five days since he had come back home, and there were twenty days until the wedding.

Since coming home, Jisung had been busy with wedding planning and catching up with the few hotel staff and many locals, but after those five days, he finally had some alone time as his dad went to pick up his friends when they arrived on the island.

Jisung seized the opportunity to take the diary he had hidden in his closet, sneak out of the hotel, and hide in the trees near the beach. Jisung checked the area to make sure it was void of people. Confident he was alone, Jisung sat on the rich soil with his back against rough bark, and opened the diary.

_ June 1, 1998 _

_ Today I graduated from high school, and I don’t know what to do now. I only got through high school because I promised Jinhee I would. Everyday I thought  _ just get through this, then you can do whatever you want,  _ but now that I’m through it, I don’t know what I want. Hyuck says that’s normal, but he and Renjun have plans to start university in the fall, so I’m not sure I trust him.  _

_ I think I’ll call Jinhee tomorrow and ask her what she thinks. I wish she could have come to visit me, but I’m sure it’s difficult to travel when you’re pregnant. I probably wouldn’t want to go anywhere if I was carrying a whole baby inside of me.  _

_ I guess that makes me think of something I do want. When Jinhee has her baby I’ll come live with her for a while and be the best uncle ever! That’s something to look forward to. I also apparently have a hangover to look forward to since Hyuck is ordering me to stop reflecting and take a shot. _

_ June 2, 1998 _

_ Once I got over the massive hangover I had this morning, courtesy of Renjun and Donghyuck, I called Jinhee like I said I would. Jinhee told me she felt like she didn’t have any direction until she got pregnant. I guess it’s too bad I can’t do the same :( _

_ I was really shocked when she told me that though. Between mom completely cutting both of us off because of the pregnancy and my overly flamboyant homosexuality and Jinhee’s boyfriend abandoning her when he found out, I wouldn’t think that that time would’ve been great for her. Jinhee’s the strongest person I know… I don’t know what I would do without her. She told me to figure out what I want I have to go out looking for it. So… I booked a flight to Paris. I probably took what she said too literally, but that was all I could think to do.  _

_ My flight leaves tomorrow morning. Donghyuck and Renjun are currently helping me pack, and weirdly enough, trying not to cry. I’ll miss them too. I know they’ll come visit me when I ask them, but I’m not sure when that’ll be yet. _

_ Hopefully after a couple of days in France I’ll have an idea of where I’m going next. I’m not quite sure what I’m doing, but I’ll figure it out as I go. It’s not like I have any sort of deadline to be home by. _

_ June 3, 1998 _

_ God, travelling is exhausting. I landed in Paris this morning and all I managed to do was eat lunch before I got to a hotel and slept. Considering how late it is, I’ve decided to not go out tonight so that I can get used to the time difference. Instead, I’ve been coming up with a list of things to do while I’m here. Obviously the Eiffel Tower is a must, so I’ll be going there tomorrow to kick it all off. I’ll definitely be checking out all of the fancy French food, and hopefully I’ll meet some cute French boys while I’m at it. I should try to sleep now, or at least lay down.  _

_ June 4, 1998 _

_ I went to the Eiffel Tower today then checked out Bastille. Paris is a great city to take pictures, the whole landscape is just so photogenic. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to send some of the pictures I end up taking to Donghyuck and Renjun, they’ll love it.  _

_ I unfortunately did not meet any cute French boys today, but it’s only day 1 here, so there’s always tomorrow! I have all of my days planned out in France, so tonight I’ve decided that my next stop is going to be Greece. I won’t be leaving for Greece for a week and a half though, and I think once I’m there I’ll call Hyuck and Junnie to see if they’ll come with me. I’m enjoying Paris, but I think I would enjoy it more if my friends were here. I guess I need to get used to travelling alone.  _

_ Tomorrow I’ll be going to the  _ _ Musée d'Orsay. I have no idea how to say that (apparently my French needs a lot of work), but I’ve heard the artwork is pretty great there. If I have time I think I’ll go to the Louvre as well. If not, I guess I’ll just push that to tomorrow. _

_ June 7, 1998 _

_ I finally met a cute boy today! He’s not French, but that hardly matters since his French is much better than mine and his cuteness totally makes up for it. His name is Yangyang. _

_ I met him in the Luxembourg Gardens. We had a picnic then he took me to see an opera at the Palais Garnier. It was an interesting experience, and I’m not sure if I’d do it again-- see an opera, that is. The date with Yangyang was fun, and I think I’ll see him again. He said that tomorrow he wants to go on a river cruise down the Seine with me. I think I’ll take him up on that offer. Yangyang was so fun to be around. He made me laugh so much, so many people gave us dirty looks during the opera, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.  _

_ Yangyang dresses like a rebel with his leather jacket and eyeliner, but after one conversation with him it’s clear he isn’t. He’s too sweet. He likes to think of himself as a rebel though. Yangyang told me his father wants him to study business in college, but Yangyang decided to study Politics and Philosophy at Oxford instead. He thinks of that as his act of rebellion, and I’m not sure how to tell him that it’s not that rebellious. Yangyang does want to help people above all else though, and that is admittedly, very punk of him.  _

So Yangyang must be the guy my dad loved, Jisung thought. The timeline did add up. Jaemin had always told Jisung that he fell in love the summer he was eighteen. But Jaemin had also written in his diary that he was leaving France soon after he met Yangyang, did he really fall in love with him in a few days? Jisung kept reading, hoping to find out more.

_ June 13, 1998 _

_ Today was my last day in Paris. I spent the whole week with Yangyang, and today was no different. I hadn’t told Yangyang that I was leaving today, but he still managed to make today extra special. I meant to tell Yangyang I was leaving, I really did, but I just never found the right moment. _

_ He took me to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, which I had no idea existed, but I’m glad I got to visit it anyway. It was gorgeous and I got to take the most beautiful pictures. Someone even offered to take some pictures of me and Yangyang. Of course, it wouldn’t be a date with Yangyang if he didn’t take me somewhere totally upscale. So, by the end of the night, we went to have an expensive meal that Yangyang, always the gentleman, paid for. Yangyang asked me to go back to his place after that and well how could I say no to sweet, kind, funny Yangyang? One thing led to another and... _

_ But here I am now. I left Yangyang a note. I had to leave to pack up since the boat to Greece leaves at the asscrack of dawn. Which is soon, so I should probably leave so that I don’t miss my boat. _

_ June 14, 1998 _

_ So I ended up missing my boat. But I lucked out! There was some man at the dock with his own boat that offered to take me to Kalokairi. I didn’t really have any other choice, so I went with him. I know it was super risky to just leave with a stranger offering to take me to an island, but he was really really hot and he seemed trustworthy enough. And well, I’m alive and writing this, so he hasn’t brutally murdered me yet! And I don’t think he will, he said he’s from Canada. He also told me his name is Mark Lee, so if I am murdered, this diary entry should be incriminating enough. I hope. _

_ Mark Lee is going into his third year of college and is studying music production. He’s raps too, and he’s actually really good. Mark played me his mix and usually that would be, well, a mood killer. But Mark has a lot of talent and the mix was surprisingly fantastic.  _

_ I asked Mark why a music production major is doing picking up pretty boys with a boat. He said he doesn’t usually do this, which gives me a bit of comfort. It’s very easy to fluster Mark. Regardless, apparently boating is Mark’s hobby. A very weird hobby, if you ask me, but who am I to say so when his hobby is saving me from being stranded in France?  _

_ Although Mark is always so distraught when I flirt with him, the man has no qualms about flirting back. I really didn’t mean to get with another guy so soon after Yangyang, in fact, I didn’t really think I’d actually be hooking up with anyone on this trip but then one thing led to another and… Mark is just really charming. And he is taking me to Kalokairi. _

Jisung was slightly disturbed by how much his dad was getting around, it wasn’t really something he needed to know. But did this mean Jaemin ended up falling in love with Mark? Or was he using Mark to get over Yangyang? Jisung couldn’t tell yet, and despite the fact that he was learning a bit more about his dad than he had initially wanted to, he continued reading.

_ June 15, 1998 _

_ Mark ended up dropping me off at the island, he said he would be back in about a week, but couldn’t stay right now. Luckily I wanted to explore the island by myself first anyway. The locals were all very friendly with me, and I ended up in a bar where I befriended the owner, Jaehyun. Jaehyun offered me a job while I’m staying in Kalokairi. I took it, if I wanted to travel more it was probably wise for me to start earning and saving some money. _

_ As I started looking for a place to stay, I came across an abandoned plot of land that had a huge farmhouse. I decided to stay there, for now at least. I hoped I could bring in some things to make it a bit more liveable, but the bare essentials were fine with me for now.  _

_ I know I’ve only spent a day here, but there’s something enchanting about Kalokairi. I feel like I’m supposed to be here, and it feels like this farmhouse was left abandoned for me to stay in.  _

_ June 17, 1998 _

_ This morning I called Renjun and Donghyuck and asked them to come visit me in Kalokairi. Obviously they said yes, but they won’t be here until the 25th, though I’m lucky they’re even able to come that soon. Then I called Jinhee and gave her an update. I probably should have avoided telling her how I took a stranger’s boat to Kalokairi, she really chewed me out for that one. Jinhee let me know that she’s due for the first week of July, so I told her I’d come back to Korea with Donghyuck and Renjun.  _

_ As much as I’m enjoying my time in Kalokairi, I’m really excited to go meet my nephew. I think Jinhee is even willing to come to Kalokairi once she’s recovered. I told her all about it on the phone, and I really think she would love it here as much as I do. I miss her a lot. With everything I’m seeing I can’t help but think about how much she would love it too, and how much I wish she was here with me.  _

_ I had a pretty brief shift at Jaehyun’s today, so I decided to spend the rest of my time exploring it. It was a lot bigger than I expected. On the way there a huge storm hit the island. I ran home and tried to find a spot where the rain wasn’t leaking into the house. I ended up finding a horse that was trapped in its stable. It was clearly spooked, so I tried to calm it down enough to get it out, but everytime I moved it freaked out again. _

_ When I ran towards the village to find help, some guy with a motorcycle almost ran me over. I recruited the stranger to help me with the horse and we managed to get it out safely.  _

_ To thank the stranger I took him to Jaehyun’s where he introduced himself as Jeno, and architecture student studying in America. When I asked Jeno what he was doing in Greece he said he didn’t know, and we bonded over travelling to find something. I told Jeno I think I might be finding something here and he looked at me and said he did too. I have to admit, that boy was smooth when he wasn’t trying. Jeno ended up coming back to the barn with me. He offered to help fix up the land if I let him stay here, and I agreed.  _

_ June 20, 1998 _

_ I had the day off today, so Jeno and I spent the morning at Jaehyun’s talking about renovating the farmhouse. I told him I dreamed of fixing it up and making the land a hotel. I wanted more people to visit Kalokairi and experience its awe and wonder just like I did, and I thought opening a grand hotel would attract more tourists. Jeno was just as enthusiastic about my dream and ended up sketching out a whole plan for the hotel on the back of Jaehyun’s paper menus. We were so excited as we pictured it in our minds that we bought supplies at a hardware store and ran back to the farmhouse to begin renovating it.  _

_ I never thought renovation could be so fun. The day passed by so quickly, and by the end of it I ended up setting up a real room for Jeno and I to stay in while Jeno worked on fixing the roof so that rain couldn’t get in. I began to picture a future that I wanted for myself independent of anyone else for the first time. I was so happy, and Jeno had helped me so much, and I ended up kissing him. I honestly didn’t think Jeno would kiss me back, but he did. One thing led to another and… _

_ I couldn't wait to call Jinhee and tell her the ideas Jeno and I came up with together. It was thanks to her that this had all happened. I wanted to share with her the happiness I felt. _

Another man? Jisung thought. He hoped that there wasn’t another coming up soon. He was struggling enough trying to figure out if Jaemin had loved the three he had already been with.

_ June 24, 1998 _

_ I made Jeno leave today. We had made so much progress on the farmhouse and I knew if I wanted to make more I needed him, but I made him leave. Jeno had left to go to the hardware store to buy paint. I had set up the room we were going to paint, and as I was looking for the paint brushes I found a picture of Jeno with a woman. A woman with a ring on the hand that was placed on Jeno’s chest. I knew immediately that they were engaged before I even read the note she had written on the back of the photo.  _

_ I cried and when Jeno came back home I yelled at him to leave. I really didn’t want an explanation, it hurt enough to know he was lying and I didn’t want to hear more lies and excuses for those lies. I told him to be gone by the time I came back from Jaehyun’s, so when I came back home, the only trace of him was in the renovations on the farmhouse. Jeno knew when to not push my boundaries. _

_ I wished I had stayed in Paris with Yangyang, where he was always kind to me and never expected anything in return. Or that Mark didn’t have to leave when he dropped me off here, and we could have spent carefree days on his boat. I wouldn’t have met Jeno either way, which would have been better. All of my decisions were so foolish. _

Jisung’s heart ached for his father. He couldn’t imagine going through all of that. Jisung was able to come to a sort of understanding as to why his dad was so scared of his being in love so young. He wished he could also understand who his dad loved, but all of the candidates seemed to still fit the description. 

_ June 25, 1998 _

_ Renjun and Donghyuck arrived in Kalokairi today. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I ran into their arms and we all started crying. I took them to the farmhouse and showed them what I began turning it into. I shared my vision for it with them then broke down again. When I told them what had happened, they decided to take me out to drink, so we went to Jaehyun’s. We barely drank anything, but Donghyuck and Renjun made me laugh so hard that I already felt so much better. It somehow got even better because Mark showed up. _

_ When I introduced him to my friends, Hyuck was immediately charmed and Renjun was soon bought over. Mark said he’d take us out on his boat if we wanted, and I definitely wanted to go, so the four of us spent the rest of the day boating. I ended up spending the rest of the night on the boat while Donghyuck and Renjun stayed at the farmhouse. Mark brought out his guitar and played songs for me while I looked through the pictures I had taken since arriving in Kalokairi. I almost deleted the ones of Jeno and the ones he took of me, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I knew Mark could tell I was sad, but he just kissed my forehead and began softly singing while he played.  _

_ June 28, 1998 _

_ I realized recently that Hyuck has a thing for Mark-- which is totally understandable. So I’ve decided to try to make my relationship with Mark just friendly, because I knew Hyuck wouldn’t say anything because he didn’t want to hurt me, but I didn’t want to hurt him either.  _

_ Unfortunately that’s a lot easier said than done because Mark is just so gosh darn considerate! Because he wants me to be happier than I was the first day he came back to the island, he keeps taking me out and I just can’t find it in myself to disappoint him and turn him down. I just hope I’m not hurting Hyuckie that much.  _

_ I called Jinhee again today to tell her about my dilemma. She didn’t have much advice, but she did tell me she thinks she’s going to go into labor really soon. I’m sad that that means that I’ll be leaving Kalokairi soon, but I’m filled with so much joy when I think about seeing Jinhee again. I asked her to take some final pictures with her baby bump since I haven’t seen her since she was 4 months along. I can’t wait to see those pictures considering how delighted she is to have her baby; I just know she’ll look radiant.  _

_ June 30, 1998 _

_ This morning I received a call. When I picked up, I thought it would be Jinhee. I even expected her to tell me she had given birth and that I should come home as soon as I can. But it wasn’t Jinhee. I didn’t know who it was but they asked me if I was Jinhee’s brother. I asked if it was the hospital calling for Jinhee to tell me she had given birth. They told me she had. I was thrilled, and my heart leaped for joy, only for it to try to jump out of my throat at the information that followed. Jinhee had given birth to a slightly underweight, mostly healthy baby boy, but she had pregnancy complications and had passed soon after. I was the only family Jinhee had left since we had lost our father long ago and our mom had cut us off. I can’t help but wonder if she would ever learn of her own daughter’s death. I had to decide if I would come and take care of the baby, or else they would have to put him up for adoption. I said I would be there tomorrow morning to pick him up. I could never hurt Jinhee by leaving her son behind. _

_ I’m so scared. I don’t know what I’ll do without my big sister. I’m so young, I’m just a baby too. How am I supposed to take care of a child when I just started learning how to take care of myself? Jinhee was the one who always took care of me when I couldn’t.  _

_ I kept replaying the last conversation I had with Jinhee in my head. I was supposed to see her again. I couldn’t comprehend that when I came back to Korea, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t understand that the last time I ever talked to her was 2 days ago and that the last time I ever saw her was five months ago. I should have been there for her during her whole pregnancy instead of in a different country at school when she needed me. She must have been so stressed and so scared going through all of that alone. Jinhee is so strong. I should have been there I should have known. _

Jisung put down the diary and wiped the tears from his face that didn’t seem to stop coming. Of course he knew this story, but Jaemin had never told him the extent of what he had to go through losing his sister and having to raise him at the same time. 

Jisung had never known his mother, but Jaemin had told him everything about Jinhee and how she would have been an amazing mom. Jisung never had to go through the loss of his mother and he never even knew her, but it still hurt. Jaemin loved her and Jisung loved his dad, so he knew Jinhee was everything Jaemin made her out to be.

Jisung picked the diary back up once he was able to see without tears blocking his vision. There were two entries left.

_ July 1, 1998 _

_ Today has been the longest day of my life. Last night Renjun, Donghyuck, and I left on a red eye to Seoul. I didn’t say goodbye to Mark because I didn’t know how to and I couldn’t waste time anyway. I told Jaehyun I had to leave. He didn’t ask me why, but he did ask if I had been staying in the farmhouse. He told me he owned that land and that if I ever came back, I was free to stay there however long I wanted. I hope I can take that offer. _

_ When we landed, the three of us went to the hospital. It took awhile for us to be able to see Jinhee’s baby, but when we did, I asked to hold him. When I held him in my arms I couldn’t help but crying again. It felt like my whole life had been leading up to this moment and all this time I had just been waiting for you, my baby. The poor thing had never been held by his mother. He had been alone without her for all of his life and had never been held by someone who loved him. I was the first one. I promised I would hold him forever, even when he was too big to fit in my arms. _

_ I named him Jisung. Jinhee had shared all of her name ideas with me, and I had always liked Jisung the most, and when I saw him for the first time, I felt like Jinhee wanted me to name him Jisung.  _

_ I wasn’t able to take Jisung home yet, so Renjun, Donghyuck, and I sat in a cafe near the hospital and I started working on funeral preparations. Junnie and Hyuck said I should rest, but I just wanted to get it over with. I’m honestly glad I did. I was able to schedule a ceremony for Jinhee in a few days. I wanted to be able to focus on Jisung. I hoped that I could take him home tomorrow, so once I was more or less done with taking care of the funeral, we went to Jinhee’s apartment to sort through her things and prepare a space for Jisung.  _

_ It was hard going through Jinhee’s things. I knew it would pretty much all be mine, but I could only think of it all as hers. Her room was set up with a crib for Jisung. Jinhee had bought so many things for him: toys, clothes, food. She was so excited to introduce him to his home. I was so lucky she had prepared all of this. I was so lucky to have my best friends by my side to help.  _

_ All I can hope for now is that Jinhee will be proud of me, and her son, Jisung. _

_ September 1, 1998 _

_ Yesterday Renjun and Donghyuck had to leave because today is their first day of classes. Today I went back to Kalokairi with Jisung. I’m so lucky to have him as my baby, he was surprisingly calm for a majority of the flight, only having trouble with take off and landing. When I finally got off the boat and stepped onto the island, it felt like I was breathing for the first time since Jinhee passed. Kalokairi is where I’m meant to be.  _

_ It’s melancholy though. I still wish I was able to share this place with Jinhee and make my dream come true with her by my side, supporting me. But I also get to share this life with Jisung. He will grow with my dream, and as he grows I will watch him develop dreams of his own and get to support him. I think that that is enough to make me happy even if my heart still aches for Jinhee.  _

_ I went to see Jaehyun first. He welcomed me back like nothing had happened and he was thrilled to meet little Jisungie. Of course, he allowed me to live at the farmhouse, though he had a condition this time: that I would make it into a hotel just as I had wanted to last time I was here. When he brought up the hotel my chest still tightened as I thought of Yangyang, Mark, and Jeno, and everything I had done. I loved so much, but as a result I lost a great deal. I am in love even now. But I still wanted it. I cannot find it in me to fully regret my actions when I am standing here right now, ready to cross the threshold from dream into reality. _

_ I learned that Jaehyun has kids of his own, and a husband to complete the set. I was relieved when he told me he and his husband would help me take care of Jisung if I wanted. Jisung may have been fairly docile compared to the average infant, but he was still a lot to take care of even with Renjun and Donghyuck helping-- I still had so much to learn.  _

_ I want to be a good dad. I will be a good dad, I swear. Jisung, my baby, I will always love you and take care of you. Baby, you are my love and my life. _

Jisung’s eyes were still watery. He caressed the final pages of the diary, ready to close the book, but when he flipped the page, pictures slid out. Jisung was shocked to find pictures of his dad when he was young and pictures of men that were presumably the ones he wrote about.

Jisung had to give his dad credit where it was due-- all of the guys in the pictures were extremely good looking. Among the pictures of the boys, Jisung found one of a young woman, standing proudly with her hands resting on her swollen stomach. Her face glowed and her happiness was tangible. This woman was clearly Jinhee. Jisung could see the resemblance between her and Jaemin.

Jisung lifted the photo, touched Jinhee’s face and then his own. It was hard to believe that this was the woman that sacrificed so much just to give him life. He pocketed the photo and in that moment made a decision that he hoped he wouldn’t regret. 

Jisung ran back to the hotel, and in his room he wrote out three letters to Liu Yangyang, Mark Lee, and Lee Jeno.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sad part over! I hope y'all enjoyed that. Please let me know in the comments what you thought and leave some kudos if you liked it :) comments make the little writer man in me work harder because they're his food and it's hard to work on an empty stomach. Thanks again for reading!
> 
> You can find me on twitter and cc @honeyhearthyuck


	2. I Could Never Let You Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo we're meeting so many characters this chapter!! I realized while writing this how dialogue heavy my writing is... I forgot. Hope y'all enjoy this one too 😘
> 
> We still unbeta'd so sorry in advance

Jaemin stood in the sweltering heat on the dock as he searched among the crowd of people getting off of the boat for his best friends. When he spotted them, he began jumping up and down and screaming their names.

“Nana!” Donghyuck shrieked when he noticed.

Donghyuck and Renjun ran towards him. “I’m too old for this!” Renjun yelled.

Jaemin laughed as the two tackled him, nearly making him topple over.

“Maybe you’d feel younger if you spent less time with those old men trying to win you over with their money.” Jaemin teased Renjun.

“But what would I do without them? Spend my own money?”

“Just admit you’re jealous of Renjun and his generous old men,” Donghyuck butt in.

Jaemin sighed. “I really am. I could use some extra help around here, I haven’t had a day off in ages. Come on, let’s head back to the hotel and you’ll see why.”

The trio packed their bags on the bulky open-top car Jaemin drove to the dock.

“So, Jisung’s getting married… wonder where he got that from,” Donghyuck commented.

Jaemin snorted. “Certainly not from any of us. He’s so young too. Considering I raised him you’d think he’d at least wait until he was older, but he fell in love so young.”

“Such a cliche storybook romance,” Renjun added, “I guess having the big wedding while he’s young matches it. You’re probably going to be a grandfather soon if the cliche continues.”

“Don’t make me think about my baby having babies!” Jaemin stopped the car. “I bet the baby is waiting inside, you can ask him yourself.”

“Ooh valet parking,” Donghyuck cooed when a few staff members approached to take the keys from Jaemin and haul the luggage out of the car.

“One of the few perks I receive as the owner,” Jaemin gestured at the hotel grandly. “This is it gentlemen. She’s still rundown and in dire need of repairs, but she’s alive.”

“I think she’s charming, very… rustic.” Renjun said.

“I think you said that last time you were here too. I guess she hasn’t changed much since then.”

Before Renjun could respond, Jisung came rushing down the stairs. 

“Uncle Renjun, Uncle Donghyuck!”  
“Awwww Jisungie you’re so big, so grown up~” Donghyuck pinched Jisung’s cheeks.

“You say that like we don’t see each other every major holiday,” Jisung complained.

“Where’s your fiancé?” Renjun asked.

“He won’t be here for a couple of days, he went back home so that he could travel here with his family. I’ve been spending time with Dejun and Kunhang. They’re helped so much with planning.”

“Oh Kunhang! We haven’t seen him and his dads in forever.” Rejun said.

“If you want to see them it’s not hard to find them,” Jaemin shared, “Jaehyun and Sicheng are always around here nowadays.”

“Nowadays? All my life they’ve been here when they’re not working and not at home.” Jisung said.

“Jisungie, shouldn’t you be helping Kunhang with setting up more rooms before guests arrive?” Jaemin asked.

“Oh shit, yeah! Thanks for reminding me, dad.”

“Who’s Dejun?” Renjun asked. 

“Jisung’s friend from school. He’s been a big help around here too. Every summer he’s come to work here. I can barely hire anyone, so I’m lucky he just wants me to feed and house him and let him flirt with Kunhang while he’s working.”

“Renjun should really set you up with one of his suitors,” Donghyuck said.

“I dream about meeting a rich man and him solving my problems all the time. But look at me,” Jaemin tugged on the straps of his overalls. “Even if I were to meet a man like that, he wouldn’t be interested. I’m too independent and free-spirited.”

“That’s the excuse we all use, babe.” Donghyuck sighed. “We’re getting so old!”

“I think it’s better like this anyway. Lone wolf for life.” Renjun added.

Jaemin agreed. “It is better. I don’t want some man bossing me around anyway. The only reason I’d marry now is if I meet a man that’s insanely wealthy and is willing to leave me alone.”

Chenle arrived on the island with his family to a small crowd of people waiting for him outside of the villa. Front and center was Jisung, of course, and at the sight of him Chenle jumped into his open arms.

“My god, how much did you eat in the week you were gone?” Jisung asked, groaning as if Chenle weighed a ton.

“I don’t know, my mom wouldn’t stop feeding me this week. Said I got too skinny at school.” Chenle kissed his fiancé on the cheek. “I missed you Sungie, did you miss me?”

Jisung blushed. “I missed you a lot. I have something I need to tell you later.”

“What is it?” Chenle asked.

“Hey lovebirds, it’s only been a week and you’re getting married soon! Introduce us to everyone!” Chenle’s older brother, Yukhei, interrupted.

“Geez, be patient!” Chenle scowled and stepped back from Jisung. 

“Hey Yukhei, it’s been a while.” Jisung smiled as Yukhei pulled him in for a hug.

“Yeah man, how’s it going? I know you have manners unlike my brother, so introduce me.”

“Ah, yeah, well, these are my good friends, Kunhang and Dejun. I grew up with Kunhang and I met Dejun at school.”

“It’s nice to meet you, man!” Kunhang grinned. “It’ll be nice not being the oldest amongst the kids with you around.”

Yukhei laughed. “Ah, you’re going to make me feel like an old man, I’m still young, I’m only twenty six!”

“Sounds pretty old to me,” Dejun joined in.

“You’re all going to regret calling me old in a couple of years,” Yukhei warned.

“Yeah, we can argue about that later,” Jisung steered Yukhei away from his friends. “Kunhang’s dads, Jaehyun and Sicheng. They practically raised me.”

Jisung introduced Yukhei to a few more people and watched as Yukhei charmed their socks off.

“Okay, and you know my dad. These are his best friends, Renjun and Donghyuck.”

Yukhei smiled full and bright. He shook hands with Donghyuck before he took Renjun’s hand and kissed it while murmuring something in Greek.

“Well aren’t you a little charmer, but you probably shouldn’t compare me to Aphrodite, it could get you in trouble.” Renjun cooed and looked up at Yukhei when he straightened. “And you are?”

“Yukhei, or you can call me Xuxi. And my American name is Lucas. I’m Chenle’s older brother.”

Renjun raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Did you just graduate from university a bit ago too?”

“No no no, I graduated quite a few years ago. It’s been like, four years now.”

“Aw, so you think you’re all grown up then,” Renjun teased.

“Oh my god. Jisung, you can go. I’m heading out too, I don’t want to watch this.” Donghyuck complained and turned around to head back into the hotel.

Jisung glanced at the flustered Yukhei one more time before deciding he'd probably be okay. Surely Renjun wouldn’t kill Chenle’s older brother before the wedding, that would really bring the mood down.

Jisung found Chenle with his parents and stopped to talk to them for a while before he apologized and whisked his fiancé away.

“I’m not staying with you, am I? I thought there was some kind of rule of the spouses not being able to see each other before the wedding.” Chenle said when Jisung brought him to his room.

“You’ll be in the same room as Yukhei before the wedding. My dad actually wants you to stay with Yukhei every night while you're here, he had a whole conversation about it with your parents. Something about tradition, I don’t know.”

“Ugh, that sucks.” Chenle brought Jisung close to him and wrapped his arms around his torso. 

Jisung lifted Chenle’s face up from where it was buried in his shoulder and kissed him on the mouth. “I know,” he whispered and kissed him again. And again and…

“Wait,” Jisung pulled away. “That’s not why I brought you here.”

Chenle whined. “You don’t have impure intentions? Why? I haven’t seen you since forever.”

“I wanted to tell you something, remember?”

Chenle turned serious at the reminder. “Right. Is something wrong?”

“Well… not wrong, per say.” Jisung sat down on his bed. “I did something, and I don’t know if I should’ve done it because it was kind of spur of the moment and I was really emotional and not thinking straight.”  
Chenle sat beside Jisung and held his hand. “Jisung what is it? You can tell me.”

“I invited three of my dad’s exes to our wedding.”

Chenle was silent for a moment. “Well, that’s a lot weirder than I thought it was going to be. What brought this on?”

Jisung brought out his dad’s diary and handed it over to Chenle. “I read this. Dad has always told me he fell in love once when he was eighteen. In the diary he mentions three men, and it seems like he could’ve loved any of them. When I finished reading I just couldn’t help but think about how much dad has sacrificed for me. I want him to find his love again or get some closure. Every time he talks about being in love it feels like he’s still hung up on his past.”

Chenle examined the diary. “Can I read it?”

“Right now?” Chenle nodded. “Yeah.”

Jisung rested his head on Chenle’s shoulder and watched as he flipped to the first page to read the first entry.

By the time Chenle was closing the diary, he was sobbing onto Jisung’s chest. “I love you so much,” he gasped.

“I love you too, Lele.” Jisung smoothed down Chenle’s hair.

“Jinhee and Jaemin did so much for you. I feel like I need to thank them. I don’t know who I’d be if I didn’t have you.”

Jisung hummed in response and began slowly rocking until Chenle calmed down. When he did, Chenle looked up at Jisung, his face puffy and tear stained. “Have you told Jaemin what you did?”

“No,” Jisung said, “I know I should but, I’m scared. I can’t imagine he’ll be happy with me.”

“Sungie, you don’t need to tell him right this moment, but I think you should soon. Preferably before they arrive so that he doesn’t freak out. I know you had good intentions, but this kind of is your dad’s business, even if it’s something he should’ve shared with you before, and good intentions don’t guarantee a good outcome.”

“I know. Thank you, I’ll try to tell him soon.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I love you,” Jisung repeated.

Chenle kissed Jisung soft and sweet. “I love you too.”

If Jisung was being honest, he didn’t really expect any of the men he invited to show up to his wedding. It was an extremely last minute invite, and Jisung was sure they were all busy men. He entertained the idea of one showing up when he mailed the letters about, but not all three. And yet, here Jisung was, standing in front of three men that resembled the ones from the photos in Jaemin’s diary. He still hadn’t told Jaemin what he had done either. Jisung may or may not have panicked.

“Um, hi, are you here for the wedding?”

“Yes, the father of one of the grooms invited all of us, it seems. My name’s Lee Jeno.” Jeno shared an eye smile with Jisung.

“Liu Yangyang,” Yangyang introduced himself. 

“And I’m Mark Lee,”

“I’m glad you could all come, I’m Jisung, Jaemin’s my dad, I’m the one getting married.”

“Wow, you’re Jaemin’s kid? I guess I can see the resemblance,” Mark blurted out.

“Yeah, I really am. And I need to tell you guys something. I’m actually the one that sent you those invitations, my dad doesn’t know you’re here, so  _ please _ don’t go looking for him. Follow me, I’ll show you where you’re staying.” Jisung brought them around the back of the villa to a building away from the big farmhouse and kept looking around. “So, did you all have a good trip here?”

“Yeah, we actually all took Mark’s boat here because Jeno and I missed the ferry.” Yangyang said.

“Oh, that happens a lot around here, you’d be surprised.”

“Did your--” Jeno cleared his throat. “Did you dad mention me- us a lot then? Is that why you invited us?”

“Oh um, actually-- well, yes. He did mention you guys so I just thought, I don’t know, that it might be a nice surprise for him?” Jisung fumbled to come up with an answer. “Right up this trap door, all the way to the top is where you’ll be staying.”

“...In the attic?” Yangyang asked when they stepped inside.

“Yep! We’re kinda tight on space right now with all the guests so, yeah, the attic.”

Mark shrugged and dropped his stuff on the floor. “So, I don’t mean to be rude or anything so please stop me if you want to but-- you’re Jaemin’s kid, yeah? Isn’t Jaemin, well, isn’t he gay? I mean last I checked he was--” Mark’s face went flush. “I mean as far as I know.”

Jisung laughed nervously. “Ah, yeah, he’s 100% gay, it’s where I get it from.” Jisung wished someone would cut off his tongue so that he could never speak again. “It’s a long story. Jaemin’s sister gave birth to me and when she passed after that, he took me in, so, he’s my dad.”

“Oh, Jinhee.” Mark nodded solemnly.

“Jinhee, she passed away?” Jeno asked.

“Yeah, right after I was born.” Jisung fidgeted.

“We’re sorry. Thanks for taking us to our room.” Yangyang broke the tense silence.

“Yeah, no problem. There are a couple of blow up mattresses and sheets, and well, everything you really need in a room. Find me if you need anything! But  _ don’t _ look for my dad right now.” 

Jisung waved goodbye then escaped the attic. He was totally screwed.

Considering how much work Jaemin had to do between the wedding and managing the villa, he didn’t have nearly as much time as he wanted to spend with his friends, so he roped them in to work with him to make up for that time. Today they were repairing the center of the villa where the wedding reception would be. They had cleaned and repaired the fountain and now they were pulling weeds in planting new flowers in the dirt that lined the square.

“You know, Jaemin,” Renjun wiped at the sweat gathering on his brow. “I could help you here. If you needed a loan, I could give you one. Heaven knows I have money to spare.”

Jaemin paused. “No. No, Renjun I couldn’t accept that. I’m doing just fine on my own, and you’re helping me so much already just by being here and supporting me.”

“Okay then. Well, what if I-- Donghyuck and I, we’ve discussed this recently, and we were thinking, maybe we could come stay here, with you.” 

Jaemin’s mouth hung open. “Really? You’d want that? I wouldn’t be able to hire you, I couldn’t pay you nearly enough and-- it’s just so much. Is that really something you would do?”

“Of course, Nana,” Donghyuck soothed, “Renjun is never going to need to work again unless he wants to, and I’m making enough to support myself through my cookbooks and cooking blog.”

Jaemin put an arm around both of his friends and pulled them close to his chest. “You’re the best friends I could ever ask for.”

Renjun spluttered and tried to escape Jaemin’s hold, knocking over a bag of fertilizer in the process. Jaemin giggled and let go of Renjun and Donghyuck.

“I should go get a broom and sweep that up,”

“No, it was my fault, I’ll do it.” Renjun protested.

“Junnie, you don’t know where the broom is. I’ll be back in a pinch.”

Jaemin dusted off his pants and ambled over to the small house behind the farmhouse. Jaemin knew the broom was leaning against the back wall of the house, but his vision was obscured by the trap door hanging down. He went to close it, but as he looked up, he was paralyzed by shock at what he saw. 

Jaemin was convinced he must be hallucinating because in the attic, Jaemin saw Liu Yangyang, Mark Lee, and Lee Jeno congregated like there was a convention of Jaemin's exes that he wasn’t aware he was hosting.

Jaemin ran from the house, broom forgotten. He looked up to where he knew the men were and moved around the house stealthily like he was the one who wasn’t supposed to be there. When Jaemin saw a ladder pushed up against the house, he couldn’t help himself. His brain had ceased to function. The id took over Jaemin’s body and he climbed the roof, knowing there was a hole he could peer through to look down on his ex-lovers.

_ Stop! This is creepy and weird!  _ Jaemin’s brain screamed at him, but Jaemin’s body didn’t seem to care. He crawled on the roof, his heart pounding in his chest, he knew it was insanely dangerous and he could roll right off or the roof could collapse under him from how frail it was.

Jaemin leaned over the hole to gaze into the attic. He had to bite down on his fist to block the squeals threatening to escape from him. Jaemin sat back on his heels to take a deep breath. Once he felt like he had himself under control, he looked again, and he wanted to look closer, sure the illusions would fade any moment. He leaned further until he was leaning so far he felt the world shift around him-- except the world wasn’t shifting, Jaemin was falling. 

He shrieked when his back hit an air mattress, and Jaemin thanked the heavens he hadn’t directly hit the ground.

“Na Jaemin!” someone exclaimed. 

When Jaemin opened his eyes, not having realized they were closed in the first place, his vision was crowded by his ex-lovers.

“What- What are you doing here?” Jaemin panted.  
“Ah, well, you know about my boating hobby, Jaemin.” Mark lied.

Yangyang glanced at Mark before looking back at Jaemin. “I’m here on a spontaneous vacation.”

“And I just came here to… drop by. Say hello.” Jeno finished.

“Well who told you you could stay here?” Jaemin asked.

“A Greek lady!” Mark said. “A lady, she spoke Greek. I think she said we could stay here, at least.”

Jeno nodded. “Yes, Greek lady.”

“She might have said we couldn’t stay here.” Yangyang added.

Jaemin got up. “Well you can’t stay here. We’re booked. There’s a wedding going on in a couple of days and I can’t afford to have you here.”

At that, he sauntered out of the attic, the other men watching as he left.

“He really hasn’t changed one bit, has he?” Jeno chuckled.

When Jaemin made it out of sight of his exes, his breathing picked up and he felt tears well up in his eyes. He shook his head, trying to get rid of them, but that seemed to only make it worse. Jaemin broke into a sprint when the first tear escaped from his eyes, running past Renjun and Donghyuck to go lock himself in one of the stalls of the public bathroom. 

Jaemin heaved and blew his nose into a tissue. He knew he was full on ugly crying and he couldn’t believe that after over twenty years he still couldn’t face everything that had happened when he was eighteen. 

He could hear the footsteps of people coming into the bathroom, so Jaemin tried to quieten his sobs only for a whimper to escape.

“Nana?” Jaemin recognized Hyuck speaking in a soft voice. “Baby what happened?”

Jaemin pushed down the lump in his throat and took a few deep breaths but that only resulted in him becoming a blubbering mess as his chest spasmed. Jaemin choked and took a few quick gasps.

“Mark, Yangyang, Jeno, they’re here, I saw them, I don’t know what they’re doing here.” Jaemin croaked.

Renjun and Donghyuck gave each other a grave look and communicated with their eyes.

“Get down,” Renjun mouthed and pointed to the ground.

Donghyuck looked at him quizzically.

“Get down,” Renjun whispered and pushed Donghyuck down to the ground near the stall on his knees and elbows. He stepped up onto Hyuck and peered over the stall to see Jaemin sitting on the toilet, face covered by his hands and body shaking.

Once struck by the sight, Renjun wasn’t quite sure what to do anymore. Donghyuck smacked his calf as a signal to hurry up.

Renjun opened his mouth and began singing. “ _ At first I was afraid, I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side. _ ”

“ _But then_ _I spent so many nights thinkin’ how you did me wrong and I grew strong, I learned how to get along._ ” Donghyuck took over.

Jaemin lifted his face from his hands. In his confusion his tears had stopped. He watched as the two joined forces to complete the rest of the song, and by the end Jaemin was giggling and singing along with them.

“Are you feeling better now?” Renjun asked.

“Please tell me you are because I need Renjun to  _ get off of me _ !” Donghyuck groaned.

Renjun stepped off and Donghyuck got up, rubbing at his back. “I did not consent to that,” he muttered.

Jaemin opened the door and was immediately enveloped in a hug. Renjun and Donghyuck guided him back to his room and once he was sitting on his bed with them, Jaemin recounted what had happened. 

“Are they still all as good looking as they were back then?” Donghyuck asked when he was finished. Renjun smacked his stomach but Jaemin laughed.

“Yeah, Yangyang is still cute, Mark is still hot, and Jeno still has his handsome samoyed face.”

Donghyuck gasped. “Does he still have his doberman body too then?”

Renjun perked up at this. “Oh my god he can’t, right? It’s been twenty years.”

“I mean he certainly didn’t have a dad bod but I didn’t really get to see. I did see his arms though, and they were looking firm as ever. He’s a married man though, so it’s not like it matters. I just hope Jisung hasn’t run into them-- oh god, Jisung, what if he finds out?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal.” Renjun said.

“No, I know Jisung and this would be a huge deal, I haven’t told him about all of the stupid slutty things I did when I was younger for a reason. I’m such a bad example.”

“If you’re a slut what does that make Hyuck?” Renjun asked.

“Hey!” Donghyuck protested. “You’re one to talk! And stop that, Nana, you sound like your mother!”

“I do not! I’m nothing like that horrible woman.”

“Perhaps not, but she certainly left her mark on you if you’re saying things like that.” Renjun agreed.

“Where did you say Mark, Jeno, and Yangyang were staying again?” Donghyuck asked.

Jaemin waved his hand. “The old goat house-- but I told them to leave.”

Donghyuck got up and strolled out of Jaemin’s room. “Well, let’s go then.”

“Excuse me?” Jaemin spluttered.

Renjun followed Donghyuck out the door without any response. Jaemin chased after them, but the two picked up their pace. 

“You can’t--”

“Have a little fun!” Renjun interrupted. “I want to see these men for myself.”

“You don’t need to see them,” Jaemin protested, “there’s nothing to see.”

“Aww what happened to your curiosity and sense of adventure, Nana? It’s exciting!” Donghyuck crowed.

“I just know how to think rationally,” Jaemin said.

Renjun stuck his tongue out at Jaemin. “Then you should know how to stop thinking that way too, it’s making you boring.” 

Jaemin was ready to argue again, but he held his tongue when they entered the goathouse. Renjun and Donghyuck approached the still open trap door and peered up into the attic.

“No one’s here,” Renjun sighed.

“Wow, did you have a powerful hallucination? Are you tripping on something right now? If so, can I take some of it too?” Donghyuck asked.

“I-- what? No, they were here, they really were, I swear.” Jaemin stuttered, his face going pale.

Renjun climbed up the ladder and poked his head into the room. “Well, if they were ever here, they’re gone now. There aren’t bags or anything here too.”

“Good. It’s probably for the best that they left. I’m already going crazy preparing for this wedding.” Jaemin fumed.

“Babe you are  _ so  _ uptight right now.” Donghyuck massaged Jaemin’s shoulders. “And tense too, it seems. What happened to the fun-loving, life of the party Jaemin we know?”

“Raising a teenager and taking out a loan changes a person, I’m old now.” Jaemin moaned.

“Age is a state of mind!” Donghyuck let go of Jaemin’s shoulders and twirled until he was leaning against the entrance.

“I’m with Hyuckie!” Renjun slinged one of his arms around Donghyuck. “Let’s go dance on the beach and drink like we did when we were seventeen and didn’t know how much a hangover sucks.”

“But I do know how much a hangover hurts,” Jaemin whined.

“You’ll forget after the first few drinks,” Hyuck shrugged.

“So, are you coming or not?” Renjun inquired.

Donghyuck raised his eyebrows. “Or are you too old?”

Jaemin grinned. “Is that a challenge?”

Jaemin, Renjun, and Donghyuck’s dancing on the beach drew the attention of many of the other guests lounging on the beach. Soon, a small crowd had gathered together to dance while the sun set over the ocean. 

Renjun and Donghyuck watched as their best friend relaxed his body and swayed to the rhythm of the music, finally letting some weight lift off of his shoulders.

“I’m getting a drink for myself and for you,” Renjun declared.

“One for me too?” Donghyuck set his full lips into a pout.

“Get one yourself,” Renjun teased.

“Aw come on Injunnie, please?” he whined.

Renjun chuckled and left without responding, he didn’t need Donghyuck to know he was going to be nice.

As Renjun got closer to the bar, he noticed a familiar tall figure standing behind it and chatting with Kunhang and Dejun. Renjun smiled to himself and decided to have a little fun.

Renjun leaned on the bar with his face cradled in his hand and tapped his fingers against the surface like he was bored.

“Renjun?” Yukhei asked. 

He looked up at Yukhei at the call of his name, his lips shaping into a cat-like smile. “That’s my name. Yours is… Xuxi, right? How can I help you?”

Yukhei fumbled. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, you can-- can I make you a drink?”

“Mmm, I’ll think about it. Are you even old enough to be making drinks?”

“I- I work at a bar, outside of school.”

Renjun gasped. “Isn’t that like,  _ illegal _ ? Oh baby, are they forcing you to work there?”

Yukhei laughed, a light flush dusting his cheeks. “The only thing forcing me to work there is my crippling debt from the price of university.”

“You’re too young to have to worry about money,”

“You talk to me like you’re ancient, but you look younger than me.”

“Hon, you have no idea, I am ancient. I’m going to be accused of being a cradle robber for talking to you.”

“What do you consider ancient? And if I’m a baby, what do you consider Jisung?”

“Are you trying to ask me how old I am?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

“I’m thirty nine, much too old for you. You are Jisung’s age, aren’t you? That makes both of you babies.” Renjun teased.

“What? Jisung is a baby, but I’m so much older than him!” Yukhei spluttered.

“And how old are you?”

“So I shouldn’t ask you for your age but you can ask for mine?”

“That was different, you shouldn’t ask for the age of your elders. Didn’t you say you would make me a drink? If so, make three and surprise me.” 

“I believe I did-- and I’m twenty six, by the way.” Yukhei winked. 

Renjun waited patiently, and when Yukhei put the drinks down in front of him, he pretended not to notice.

“I hope you like tequila.” Yukhei said.

Renjun glanced into the cups. “Tequila sunrise?”

“Yeah, is that okay?”

Renjun looked up at Yukhei from under his lashes. “It’s perfect. Thanks, Xuxi~”

He sashayed away, knowing that Yukhei was watching him from the laughs coming from Kunhang and Dejun.

“Here you go, ungrateful bitches. I slaved to get these.”

“Junnie thank you so much, you’re so sweet!” Donghyuck sang. “You have got to lay off of Chenle’s poor brother though. Imagine how Chenle feels!”

“Oh but he’s so fun to tease,” Renjun attested, “and I’ll ask Chenle how he feels right now if you’re so worried about it.”

“Oh my god!” Jaemin squawked as Renjun approached the dancing boy and his fiancé.

“Jisung, Chenle,” he greeted, “Chenle, how do you feel about me flirting with your older brother?”

Jisung’s face was set aflame at the question, but Chenle dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“I mean, I’d rather not know any details of Yukhei’s love life; aka it’s none of my business; translation, I don’t care. But thanks for asking, I guess.” Chenle said once he regained his composure.

“Gotcha. Nice chat, remember to take it inside when it gets past PG-13, okay?” Renjun winked and rejoined his friends, ignoring the cries of protest from Jisung.

“Chenle said he doesn’t care,” Renjun said to Donghyuck.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Good to know,”

“You two should learn from me and take initiative,”

“I take initiative plenty of times!” Donghyuck objected.

“Well, you should more often. Especially you, Jaemin, I have not heard about a boyfriend since Jisung was born.”

“No, I can’t flirt anymore, I’m too old to have a boyfriend, if I flirt it’s supposed to be with my husband and I certainly don’t have one of those” Jaemin downed the rest of his drink and held out the cup to Renjun. “More, please?”

Renjun sighed and exchanged cups with Jaemin. “Take mine. Didn’t we just have a whole conversation about how age is a mentality? Come on, you’re never too old to flirt.”

“I don’t know how to anymore. Besides, there aren’t any men to flirt with.”

“Oh, but I think there are~” Dongyuck crowed. “I heard about three very attractive men arriving on this here island this very day.”

Jaemin choked on his drink. “No, don’t even joke about that. I’m never falling in love again, and certainly not with someone I already have.”

Donghyuck and Renjun paused their teasing. “You really loved one of them?” Renjun asked gently.

“What? No, I didn’t say that, you must have misunderstood me, I’m just not going to fall in love with any of them right now.” Jaemin nervously gulped down the rest of his drink. “Junnie, will you get me another?”

Donghyuck sighed. “I’ll go this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, I love writing flirty dialogue 😳  
> Please let me know your thoughts in the comments! What do you think of the characters? Are you excited to see where this is all going? I am too! The wedding is in three days people!!  
> I started working on the third chapter right after I finished this one, so hopefully it'll be done soon and I can share it with you all :)  
> The writer man in me has been working very hard lately so he is very hungry. Please leave some comments to feed him 🥺  
> Find me on twt and cc @honeyhearthyuck 💛


	3. Don't Go Wasting Your Emotion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than usual, and it might seem a bit filler. I promise it's not, I just really want to develop the relationships between the characters so that the plot makes more sense-- at least it makes more sense to me lol.  
> Regardless, I hope you enjoy this chapter! 🤠

Jisung woke up at dawn despite having stayed up all night dancing with Chenle. He rolled out of bed and went through his brief morning routine. Once he had changed into a t-shirt and swim trunks, he sat on the bed next to a sleeping Chenle while scrolling through twitter on his phone and eating his breakfast consisting of an apple.

When all that remained of the apple was the core, Jisung threw it away, kissed Chenle on the forehead, slid on a pair of flip flops, and headed out to start his day. 

The sun was still doing its morning stretches in the sky when Jisung arrived at the goathouse; he hoped the men wouldn’t mind his early arrival. However, it seemed he had nothing to worry about when he climbed up to the attic and found it void of life. 

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Jisung muttered to himself. There were no bags in the room, so they all must have left, and Jisung’s plan had gone awry. 

Jisung was about to head back to his room and slide in bed when he noticed a note lying on the ground.

_ Jisung, _

_ Jaemin found us up in the attic and told us to leave. We did not mention you or why we were here, but we decided it was best to abide by your father’s wishes. That being said, while we are no longer staying on the island, Yangyang, Jeno, and I are currently lodging on my boat. Feel free to drop by whenever! _

_ -Mark _

Jisung sighed in relief then crumpled up the note and threw it in the waste bin on the way out of the goat house.

This early in the morning the beach was empty except for the local that was taking a walk along the shore. Over at the dock there sat one boat that stood out from all of the fishing ones that typically occupied the space. Jisung figured that was Mark’s boat so he ran to the dock and stepped onto it.

“Um, is anyone here?” Jisung called out.

Mark appeared from behind the giant sail. “Oh, Jisung! Good morning, I was just looking out on the water. I didn’t expect you to come here so early.”

Jisung scratched his neck. “Are Yangyang and Jeno not awake yet?”

“Don’t worry, they’re awake, they’re just both below deck. Jeno is working and Yangyang is drinking coffee in bed and probably staring at the wall. He’s a bit slower to wake up,” Mark laughed.

“Is now an okay time? Or should I come back later?”

“Now’s perfect! I wanted to take to the water early today anyway. Let’s go bother Jeno and get Yangyang out of bed, yeah?” 

Mark led Jisung down into the belly of the boat where Jeno was sitting at a table, his eyes hidden by glasses but clearly focused on his tablet as he twirled the stylus between his fingers. Yangyang was exactly as Mark said he would be, his eyes were so glazed over and unfocused that Jisung almost worried that he might be dead.

“Let’s get movin’ boys, Jisung is joining us today!” Mark announced.

Jeno looked up. “Oh, good morning, Jisung. Sorry Yangyang and I aren’t ready yet, we didn’t think you would come here so early.”

“It’s fine, sorry I couldn’t give you a heads up or anything.”

Jisung watched as Yangyang blinked three times, downed the rest of the coffee in his mug, and literally rolled out of bed and went straight to the bathroom.

“...Give him a minute and he’ll be himself.” Jeno said.

“You want coffee? Or some tea? I might have some left if I just look around.” Mark offered Jisung.

Jisung shook his head. “No, but thank you.”

The three of them stood in an awkward silence until Yangyang burst out of the bathroom. “Good morning, kid!” he cheered. “Are we gonna head out now or what?”

Mark chuckled. “Yeah, let’s do it. You want to help me out, Jisung?”

Jisung nodded and followed Mark back up. The sun was now showing its full face to the world, and it was already burning hot despite the early hour. It was a perfect day for sailing.

Mark was a great teacher and Jisung was a fast learner. Somehow Jisung had gone his whole life living on an island and had never gone sailing, though he had always wanted to try.

Once the boat was far from the dock and the shore was distant and small, Yangyang and Jeno joined Mark and Jisung. Gone were Jeno’s glasses and Yangyang’s general tired aura. Jeno instead wore an eye smile and Yangyang was exploding with energy as he ran around the deck.

Jisung laughed and joked along with all of them until he built up the courage to ask a question. “Hey, can I-- can I ask you guys about what my dad was like? Back when you knew him.”

The three exchanged looks before Yangyang responded. “Yes, of course. Is there anything specific you want to know?”

“Jisung thought about it for a moment. “I mean, not really? I guess what stuck out about him to you and what you liked about him? But I’d like to hear anything you want to tell me about him.”

Yangyang spoke up once again. “I guess the first thing that really struck me about Jaemin was how adventurous he was. When he told me about why he was in Paris, it really wowed me. It made me want to impress him so I just took him on all of these extravagant dates. Obviously it didn’t work though,” Yangyang laughed.

Jeno and Mark chorused their agreement. “Jaemin accepted a ride on my boat to Kalokairi without knowing a single thing about me… he didn’t even ask my name until he was on the boat! I couldn’t help but think of him as brave after that.” Mark confessed.

“Yes, I would certainly consider him brave,” Yangyang said.

“You know how I met him? He stopped me on my motorcycle and asked me to help him free a spooked horse from its stable. He caught my attention immediately, and he managed to keep it too.” Jeno sighed.

“How did he do that?” Jisung asked, wanting information past what he already knew.

“He did it in so many ways,” Jeno paused to gather his thoughts. “When Jaemin began telling me about what he wanted to do with the farmhouse, I think that really drew me in. We loved working on that place together, you know? He always made it so much more fun with the games he’d play. But I think what really held my attention was how caring he was in the most subtle of ways, I don’t think he himself even realized how loving he was being. 

“Jaemin would cook for us all the time, even when he was tired from working at Jaehyun’s and renovating the barn house. He would pick me flowers out in the field on his way home from work because I told him my favorite color was blue and he saw the most beautiful blue flowers. We knew each other for a week and a half, but he somehow knew me better than anyone ever had.”

Silence settled over the group. The sound of waves lulled the men to wander in their thoughts. Mark was the first to share his.

“Jaemin was always playing games. Whenever I took him out on my boat he would get in the water as soon as I dropped anchor and would rope me into some kind of competition or game he would come up with on the spot.”

“What kind of games?” Yangyang asked.

“Ah, I can hardly remember. He never came up with quite the same game, every time he created something new.”

Yangyang tore off his shirt. “Let’s come up with one right now!” he ran off the side of the boat and jumped into the water.

Mark shrugged and took off his shirt as well, so Jeno and Jisung followed suit. Before they knew it, all of the boys were splashing in the ocean until they forgot a whole world existed on the shore.

Jaemin woke up exactly how he predicted he would wake up after a night of drinking.  _ Good to know hangovers still suck _ , he thought.

His alarm was blaring duck noises from his phone. Jaemin blindly reached over to silence it, only to whack something in the face. That something groaned loudly, and the bed shifted. Jaemin sat up and saw Donghyuck and Renjun on either side of him.

Renjun was half hanging on the bed, nearly falling off, while Donghyuck was buried face down into a pillow after Jaemin had hit him. Once Jaemin successfully turned off his alarm he stretched out his limbs, a groan slipping from his mouth involuntarily.

Jaemin sat for a moment and strategized how he was going to get out of bed without disturbing his friends. Jaemin slid down to the edge of the bed, not realizing he was pulling the blanket along with him. When Jaemin made it to the end and stood up on the ground, the blanket underneath Renjun was torn away, and Renjun fell off of the bed.

Renjun shrieked and flailed when he hit the ground.

Donghyuck whined and shoved a pillow over his own head. “Shut up, m’tryna sleep,” he mumbled.

“I just fell off of the bed, you fucking asshole!” Renjun jumped onto Donghyuck and tore the pillow away from his face.

“Jaemin, an ungly old hag broke into your room in the middle of the night and is attacking me!” Donghyuck took the pillow and hit Renjun’s torso.

Jaemin watched with amusement as his best friends started a pillow fight. He thought it best to stay out of it, so he went to his bathroom and began getting ready for the day.

By the time he came back, Renjun and Donghyuck were laying on their backs and panting.

“Good morning children, did you sleep well?” Jaemin cooed.

“Shut the fuck up, how are you so chipper at six in the morning with a hangover?” Donghyuck complained.

“I have to be,” Jaemin sat on the bed.

Donghyuck pulled Jaemin down and cuddled up close to him. “Stay for a bit longer and sleep,”

“I have work to do, Hyuckie, we have today and tomorrow is all we have left to get ready for the wedding.” Jaemin tried to wriggle out of his grasp only for Renjun to stop him by spooning him. 

“I want to talk about something before you go,” Renjun said.

Jaemin relaxed between his friends. “Fine, but make it quick.”

“You said something last night, so I wanted to ask you about it.” Renjun stayed silent after that.

Jaemin squirmed. “I said make it quick, what is it?”

“Did you fall in love after we graduated high school?” Renjun whispered.

Jaemin tensed and Donghyuck pet his hair. “It’s okay, Nana. We won’t judge you.”

“I-- yes, I fell in love.”

“Which one?” Renjun asked.

Jaemin shook his head. “You know which one,”

“I can guess, but I don’t know. You have to tell us.”

Jaemin’s lower lip trembled. “Jeno,”

Donghyuck brushed his thumb across Jaemin’s cheek. “Oh  _ baby _ , why did you never tell us?”

“It was so stupid, I knew him for a week and a half, and he didn’t even feel the same. He went home, and he got married, and that was it. I felt dumb enough as it was.”

Renjun buried his chin into Jaemin’s shoulder. “You’re not dumb. He’s the dumb one for letting you get away when you’re so amazing.”

“You don’t understand,” Jaemin protested, “what still makes me stupid is that -after all this time too- I think part of me still loves him. And I don’t know why. It makes me so angry, it’s been twenty years, that’s just ridiculous.”

“Baby, we’re not going to shame you for how you feel.” Donghyuck said.

“No, we’re not,” Renjun agreed, “thank you for telling us. I think I better understand why you don’t want them around now.”

“It was just so scary, having to face my feelings for the first time in over two decades. I’ve tried so hard just to forget all about that summer, but it looks like the universe is forcing me to stop hiding it.”

“Is it still so scary now?” Renjun inquired.

Jaemin smiled a bit. “No, I don’t think it is. It’s still scary, but not as much as I thought it would be.”

Donghyuck and Renjun each gave Jaemin a kiss on the cheek. They laid there together and let time pass like they always did.

Jisung had completely lost track of time. He was drying out in the sun on the boat after having been in the water for heaven knows how long. The sun was high in the sky, but Jisung wasn’t sure how late it was because he had left his phone in his room.

“We should probably have some lunch, it’s been a while since breakfast.” Mark said.

Jisung sat up. “Wait, what time is it?”

“Around two. Why, is something wrong?”

“Shit, really? Chenle’s probably wondering where I am.”

“Okay, we can take the boat back to the dock and--”

“No, I’ll swim there, we’re close enough to the shore, don’t worry about it.” Jisung shimmied out of his shirt.

“Jisung, you don’t have to--”

Jisung didn’t hear the rest of what Mark said because he dove into the water. When he broke the surface he swam with his head up all the way back to the shore where he saw Chenle walking down the sand in his swim trunks.

As Jisung walked out of the ocean he could see Chenle checking him out. In response, Jisung ran a hand through his wet hair, and he may or may not have flexed just a little.

“Been on the beach all morning?” Chenle asked when he got close.

“Um… yeah, I have. How long have you been up?” 

“Since around ten, but I heard you leave so early. I don’t understand how you do it.”

“Routine, Lele, I keep telling you I’ll help you get into it.”

Chenle made a face. “I need enough beauty sleep to look this good.”  
Jisung grabbed one of Chenle’s hands and pulled him close. “I think you look beautiful no matter what.” Jisung kissed him.

“You are so corny, I will literally throw up in your mouth.” Chenle muttered.

Jisung scrunched up his nose. “You like it though,”

“Unfortunately I do. You’ve changed me, Na Jisung.” Chenle looped his arms around Jisung’s neck.

“Is that a good thing?”

Chenle pretended to think about it for a moment. “I guess I could consider it good; depends on how you look at it.”

Jisung pinched Chenle’s stomach in retaliation, causing a gasp of surprise from him. When he attempted to get back at Jisung, he evaded Chenle’s reaching hands.

“Na Jisung, get back here!”

Jisung ran down the beach while Chenle screamed at him, surely attracting the attention of others on the beach. 

Jisung was forced to stop when he reached the area of the beach overrun by large formations of rocks. He turned around to try to figure out how to evade Chenle, only to be tackled to the ground by the man.

Chenle straddled his fiancé and tickled him until he was out of breath. 

“You’re so mean, I’m going to have sand in my hair forever now. When we get married a trail of sand will be left in the aisle. Our bed is going to have sand in it for all eternity.”

“That’s your fault, you started it.” Chenle backfired.

“Your reaction was dramatic,” Jisung argued.

“Ugh, shut up,”

“Why don’t you make me?”

Chenle leaned down until their noses were brushing. “Be careful what you wish for,” Chenle whispered before sealing his lips with Jisung’s.

Jisung placed his hands on the middle of Chenle’s back. “Are you wearing sunscreen?”

Chenle rolled his eyes. “Of course I am, some of us burn instead of turning gorgeously tan, you know? Why do you ask?”

“I can feel it,”

“That’s it? Oh my god I cannot--”

Jisung cut him off by pulling Chenle down and kissing him again. Chenle whined in protest at being cut off, but he easily gave in and relaxed against Jisung.

Jisung escalated the kiss by slipping his tongue into Chenle’s mouth, pulling another whine from him. As the kiss grew more heated, Chenle dragged his nails down Jisung’s stomach and tried to encourage Jisung’s hands to inch down further by guiding them until his hands were at the small of his back, fingertips dipping underneath his swim trunks. Chenle wiggled to get the hands down further, but Jisung removed them completely and drew away, wiping at his mouth when he saw a thin string of saliva connecting them.

“We are not having sex on the beach!” Jisung hissed.

“Why not? Nobody would see us,”

“Someone could totally see us! And that someone could be your brother, your parents, or my dad.”

“You’re no fun, Jisungie.”

“I mean, we could go back to my room…”

Chenle hopped up. “No way, you’re going to have to catch me and convince me.”

“What?” Jisung sat up and shook the sand out of his hair.

“You heard me!” Chenle cackled and took off.

“Zhong Chenle!” Jisung ran, it was his turn to chase.

In the evening, Jaemin ran into Mark at Jaehyun’s. He had dropped by to finalize catering details for the reception, and when he finished, he found Mark right outside of the bar.

“Jaemin,” he greeted.

“Hi Mark,” Jaemin gave a tight lipped smile. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, just wanted some time off of the boat. I was checking to see how much had changed-- by the looks of it, not much. You haven’t changed much either.” Mark laughed.

Jaemin wrapped his arms around himself. “I guess not much, but I still think I’m different than I was back then.”

“Having a kid will do that to you. Jisung is a cool kid, by the way.”

Jaemin smiled. “Yeah, he’s the best kid I could ask for.” He paused. “How do you know I have a kid?”

“I ran into him on the dock!” Mark rushed. “We started talking about sailing, and I ended up teaching him, he’s a real fast learner! He mentioned you so, that’s when I found out you’re his dad.”

“Oh, okay. You didn’t mention that you knew me, did you?”

“Not at all!”

The two didn’t speak for a moment. “I’ve heard your songs on the radio, you know? They’re all a smash hit-- at least the ones I know you wrote have been popular.”

“You’ve listened to my music?”

“Yeah, well, you’re so successful it’s kind of hard not to. And there are songs that I remember. I remember listening to your mix tapes and you singing to me, and coming up with stuff on your guitar while we went out boating. You were always so good at writing music, it’s no surprise artists are giving an arm and a leg to buy them from you.”

Mark shifted awkwardly. “Ah, thanks Jaem. I can’t believe you remember all of that stuff. I like to think I’m a lot better at writing and producing now.”

“Oh, I’m sure you are, but even back then you were good.”

“You know, being back here really gives me inspiration to write new stuff. I’m glad I came to visit, brings back a lot of good memories.” 

Jaemin blushed from his neck to the tips of his ears. “Ah, well…”

Mark’s eyes widened. “I mean the island is just so beautiful! And I love sailing around here.” Mark scratched the back of his head. “It’s been pretty busy around here lately. Is it because of the wedding you mentioned? I’m sure that’s giving you a lot to do right now.”

“God, you have no idea. It’s actually-- well, Jisung is the one getting married, so it’s a lot more work than you would think.”

“No kidding!” Mark exclaimed. “Wow, he’s so young though,”

“That’s what I said! He doesn’t get it from me, that’s for sure.”

“What’s his fiancé like? Do you like them?”

“Oh, he’s great, perfect for Jisung, honestly. Best friends from the moment they met, they fell in love when Jisung was just seventeen, so I guess I can’t blame him for getting married so early. I don’t know if I would approve of this marriage if I didn’t love Chenle so much.”

“That’s great, I love weddings so much, sometimes I cry when I go to one.”

“Are you married now?” Jaemin asked.

“Pshaw, nope. Definitely not. Totally single.”

“Sorry, did that offend you?”

“Not at all!” Mark scrambled. “It’s just-- this is going to sound super cocky, but it’s hard to find anyone that wants to date just Mark and not Mark Lee, you know?”

“I don’t know, but I suppose I can see where you’re coming from. It’s weird watching people I used to know get married and have babies and post about it, you know?”

“You’re telling me. You at least did the baby part.”

“It’s different with me, I adopted Jisung when my sister passed after going through labor.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mark apologized.

“No, no, you didn’t know. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me even though the worst thing that ever happened to me had to happen for me to meet him. Funny how things work out like that, huh?”

“Yeah, I understand that.”

Jaemin looked up at the sky. “Well, I should probably get going, Mark. I have more wedding stuff to work on, but you can stop by the villa, though you might not find me.”

“Thanks, Jaemin. I might take you up on that offer. It was nice to talk to you again.”

Jaemin smiled, showing his white teeth. “Yeah, it was.”

As Jaemin walked away, he noticed how light his steps felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really loved writing these scenes, especially the markmin one 😌 the first scene kicked my butt though, that was hard to write.  
> Tomorrow's the day before the wedding, what will happen this time??  
> I think there are going to be two more chapters left of this. I'm going to try to get this done soon because I'll be out of town soon, so stay tuned!  
> Oh, also I'm thinking of making a playlist for this fic-- it would all be ABBA, but it's a mamma mia fic so...  
> Let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments, the little writer man in me needs enough fuel to wrap this up 😳 he loves your comments so much, they're all so delicious!  
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed 💕
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/honeyhearthyuck) I [cc](curiouscat.qa/honeyhearthyuck)


	4. Can You Feel It The Way I Do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we developing more relationships
> 
> unbeta'd: I'm really sorry bc I know there are a ton of mistakes

Donghyuck had promised himself not to do anything work related while he was on the island. It was his vacation, and he already worked so much as it was, he deserved a break.

Still, with just two more days to go without working, Donghyuck found himself in the kitchen. Donghyuck figured that this is what he got for having a career that he loved. Besides, Donghyuck was only making breakfast for  _ himself _ , he would only really be crossing the line if he cooked for someone else, and there was no one in the kitchen to cook for anyway.

Donghyuck had just finished taking out all of the ingredients he might need, as he was still deciding what to make, when someone barged into the kitchen, loudly humming.

Mark Lee stopped his humming when Donghyuck looked up at him. Mark blushed a bit and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I didn’t expect anyone to be in here so early in the morning.”

Donghyuck wanted to immediately forgive him and pinch his cheeks, but he prioritized his best friend over flirting with the attractive man. “What do you think you’re doing here? Didn’t Jaemin tell you to stay away from the villa?”

“He did, but last night I talked to him and he said I could drop by, if I wanted. So, I’m dropping by.”

Donghyuck raised his eyebrows. “How do I know you’re not lying?”

“What reason would I have to lie?”  
Donghyuck huffed, but he went back to deciding what he was going to make, until Mark interrupted his train of thought again.

“Donghyuck, right? I see you’re still a really good friend to Jaemin.”

Donghyuck felt heat rush to his cheeks. “You– you remember me?”

“Yeah, of course I do! Do you remember me?”

“How could I forget you?” Donghyuck cringed when he realized what he just said. “I mean, Jaemin was into you, I keep tabs on that so that I know whose life I need to destroy if they hurt him.”

Mark chuckled. “I suppose I didn’t hurt Jaemin then, since my life is fairly successful.”

“Fairly successful? That’s an understatement and a half, stop trying to be so modest.”

“You’re one to talk. I watched your cooking show when it ran, you have a cult following.”

Donghyuck shook his head. “Sure, but  _ everyone _ has heard a Mark Lee song before.”

“So you’ve heard some of my songs before?”

“Of course! You’ve written for some of my favorite artists before, so it was unavoidable.”

“Really? Do you have a favorite song?”

Donghyuck nodded and sang a bit of the song, having forgotten the title of it from how nervous he was. 

“You have a beautiful voice, you should’ve gone into singing instead of cooking.”

Donghyuck bit his lip. “Are you trying to imply that I’m not good at cooking?”

“Oh my god, no, no, you’re great at cooking! At least from what I can tell, I’ve only ever watched your show, and it all looked great, but–”

“I guess I’ll have to make you breakfast then, huh?”

“No, you don’t have to do that for me, I was going to make myself breakfast.”

“Uh huh, and just what were you going to make that could rival what I’m about to make you?”

“...Scrambled eggs?”

“Really? That’s so basic, Mark.”

“I have it pretty much every morning.” Mark let his eyes roam over Donghyuck. “I know what I’m about.”

“Yeah, okay, how do you feel about an omelette then? Or would you prefer something sweet?”

“I’ll eat anything you make for me.”

“An omelette it is then. You can help me, if that makes you feel any better.”

Mark agreed, but Donghyuck quickly found he couldn’t do much else aside from scrambling eggs. 

“You watched my cooking show and this is all you know how to do? Maybe I’m not as good as I thought I was,”

“That’s not it at all, I just, didn’t really watch to learn how to cook.”

Donghyuck sighed. “That’s alright, why don’t you just cut up the fruit and leave the rest to me? Unless you can’t cut up fruit too?”

Mark shook his head. “I can cut fruit! I’ll do it!”

Donghyuck laughed and turned back to preparing and omelette for Mark and for himself. By the time he plated them, Mark was standing proudly with a bowl of berries.

“Aw, good job, Markie,” Donghyuck cooed. “Can you start cleaning up? There’s something I want to put on the fruit.”

Mark complied, and Donghyuck stirred up a sour and sweet mixture to pour over the berries. He garnished it with pieces of mint to complete the whole meal when an idea popped into his head.

“How do you feel about mimosas?”

“I feel like that sounds perfect for this meal.”

Donghyuck grinned and searched the kitchen for a bottle of champagne and pulled the orange juice from the fridge. He mixed the drinks with a flourish then grabbed the omelettes.

“There’s a table right outside that we can eat at, will you carry the rest?”

Mark rushed to pick the rest up and follow Donghyuck outside. When he sat down, Donghyuck looked at him expectantly.

“Uh… do you want something?” he asked

“Take a bite, I want to know what you think.” Donghyuck coaxed.

Mark cut a piece of the omelette and slowly raised it to his lips. He closed his eyes as he placed the piece in his mouth, taking in the savory flavor and fluffy texture of the omelette. When Mark opened his eyes, Donghyuck was staring intensely at him.

“So?” He asked.

“That was…” Mark paused. “Absolutely fucking delicious. Hands down the best omelette I’ve ever had.”

When Mark finished talking he began scarfing down the delicious meal. Donghyuck laughed at how enthusiastic and earnest he was. 

“Whoa, slow down big boy, savor it.” Donghyuck warned and began eating his own food.

“I guess I see why you went into cooking instead of singing. Though I still firmly believe you would’ve been a huge deal if you had gotten into music.”

Donghyuck squirmed under the praise Mark was giving him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I probably would’ve wanted to write all of my songs for you though.” Mark laughed like he didn’t know how he set Donghyuck’s heart racing.

“Ah, stop exaggerating so much, Mark, it’s flattering but you’re inflating my ego far too much.”

“Good, you should be proud of all of your talents.”

Donghyuck took big gulps of his mimosa and stuffed his face to try to distract himself from how his heart kept skipping every other beat and his chest tightened every time Mark spoke. He spent the rest of the breakfast using this strategy until Mark sighed and leaned back in his chair, finished with the meal. Donghyuck rushed and finished shortly after.

“Donghyuck, thank you. Really, I don’t think I’ve ever had an omelette that good. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better breakfast than this.”

“It’s nothing. I love cooking, and I especially love cooking for others, so really I should be thanking you.”

Mark smiled. “Well, regardless, I’m grateful. I have to get back to my boat though, but you can come with me, if you’d like?”

Donghyuck hesitated, he really wanted to say yes. “I can’t, I’m helping with the wedding, Jaemin is already so busy, so I can’t afford to skip out on anything.”

“That’s too bad,” Mark stood up. “Thanks again. I’ll see you around, maybe?”

“Yeah,” Donghyuck breathed out and watched Mark go. He couldn’t believe after twenty years his crush on Mark Lee came back over the course of an hour. How was he going to tell Jaemin?

Jaemin needed a break. It was nine in the morning, the day before the wedding, and Jaemin already felt like he needed to scream into the void for a moment just to get through the day.

Unfortunately, there was no void for Jaemin to scream into, so he sat alone on the beach instead. He was beginning to regain some energy after staring at the waves and letting sand slide through his fingers, and just as he was ready to get up, someone sat down next to him.

“You know, my father once told me that when you love something, it gets more beautiful with age.” Jeno looked at Jaemin though the other man stayed staring straight ahead. “I never understood what he meant, but I think I see what he means now.”

“Excuse me?” Jaemin turned to look at Jeno with a slight scowl.

“It’s been twenty years since I’ve been on this island, and it’s even more beautiful than I remember. I wish I had come back here earlier.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“What?”

“Why didn’t you come back here earlier?”

Jeno frowned. “I don’t know. For a while I was broke because of school, then once I started making enough money, I just got so busy and I… it all just felt like a dream, like the island wouldn’t be here if I went back.”

Jaemin picked up a mound of sand and watched it slip through the spaces between his fingers.

“I always wanted to come back here and build the villa though.” Jeno chuckled. “Looks like you beat me to it though.”

“Staying here was my dream, I just made it come true instead of forgetting about it.”

“I still have those menus. The ones I drew out this whole place out on. I even brought them here with me. I’m not sure why though, I don’t know what I was expecting when I came here.”

Jaemin brushed the sand of his palms. “Yeah, I don’t know what you were expecting either.”

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?”

“What do you think?”

“God, Jaemin, I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. This was my dream too, you know? It was  _ our _ dream. We came up with it together.”

“It became my dream when you decided to leave.” Jaemin spat.

“In case you’ve forgotten,  _ you _ told me to leave, I didn’t want to.”

“Your stupid decisions are why I told you to leave, this is all your own fault, so don’t try to blame me for being reasonable.”

“Reasonable? You never even let me explain–”

“Why are you even here, Jeno?” Jaemin blurted out. “What are you doing here?”

Jeno paused. “I don’t know,” he whispered, “I don’t know, it’s fate or something. I really think it is. I’m supposed to be here, Jaemin, for some reason the universe has called me here.”

“Fate doesn’t exist,” Jaemin hissed. He stood up, brushed the sand off of his pants, and turned on his heel.

Jeno scrambled to stand as well. “Jaemin, please wait, let me–”

“Do not follow me!” Jaemin shouted and ran off the beach, leaving Jeno standing alone on the shore. Jaemin did not have to look back to know that, Jeno had never pushed his boundaries.

Renjun knew Yukhei had been watching him from the bar as he lounged on the beach. Renjun knew, so he took it as an opportunity to tease the younger a bit. He pretended like he wasn’t aware of Yukhei’s presence as he languidly stripped off his shirt and applied sunscreen. 

Renjun really did come to the beach to relax though, so after that he laid down on the beach chair and minded his own business. They had finished setting up the reception area earlier than Jaemin had thought they would, so Renjun went off to the beach alone because Donghyuck said there was something he wanted to talk about with Jaemin.

Despite the fact that Renjun really wasn’t trying to tease Yukhei anymore, he could still feel his eyes on him. It made Renjun restless, so eventually he got up and walked over to the bar.

Yukhei wasn’t behind it this time, but he perked up the same way he did when he last saw Renjun. Renjun threw him a flirty smile and sat next to him.

“Hiya, Xuxi. You been out here all day?” He asked.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

Renjun glanced at Yukhei’s bronze stomach and chest. “Ah, just a hunch, I suppose.”

Yukhei looked down at himself. “Oh yeah, I guess how tan I got kind of gives it away.” Yukhei laughed. “Can I make you a drink? Another tequila sunrise?”

Renjun hummed. “I prefer sex on the beach,”

Yukhei’s mouth hung open as he processed Renjun’s words. “Oh, sex on the beach, I– I can make that for you!” Yukhei stumbled off of the stool he was sitting on and made his way behind the bar. Renjun had to bite his lip to stop himself from busting out laughing.

“One sex on the beach, for you.” Yukhei declared and placed the drink in front of Renjun.

“Just one? Can’t you go multiple rounds?”

“Sure, but you should finish the first one to start off.”

“You’ll have to make sure I finish then,” Renjun sipped on the drink. 

Yukhei returned to his seat next to Renjun. “How is it?”

“It’s good. Is bartending all you have to offer me though?”

Yukhei furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m offering you something?”

“Xuxi honey, it’s obvious you’re interested in me. But before I even consider reciprocating, I need to know what you have to offer me. I’m sure you’re used to guys and girls throwing themselves at you, but I have suitors lined up offering me all of the luxuries the world can offer. I want to know what  _ you _ can offer me.”

Yukhei smiled. “You know I’m in school, right? I’m working on getting my PhD in anthropology. When I’m not working at a bar I’m working as a research assistant.”

Renjun schooled his expression to hide how impressed he actually was. “And? I didn;t hear any offers in there.”

“Baby, all I can offer you is my mind and my body. I’m broke, you’d be the one providing in this relationship.”

“It sounds like I’d be getting the short end of the stick in this relationship.”

Yukhei smirked, suddenly brimming with confidence. “I can promise you that won’t be the case, you just have to let me prove it to you.”

Renjun rarely felt flustered, but right now he did. “Does your mother know that you’re out?”

“What?”

“I must be close to your mother’s age, you know,”

Yukhei frowned. “I don’t want to think about you like I think about my mother.”

“But your mother and I, aren’t we closer in age than you and I are? You’re so young, Yukhei.”

“Uh, no. My mother is fifty nine. She had Chenle and I a bit late. Why are we talking about my mother all of a sudden?”

Renjun swallowed down more of his drink and stayed silent.

“Renjun, you know I’m twenty six, right? I know you’re thirty nine, and from the moment I met you I knew you were at least a decade older than me.”

“Hey! Are you trying to tell me I look old?”

“That’s not my point; you don’t look a day over twenty five. My point is I’m comfortable with your age and my age, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Ugh, I’m so used to being the younger one because only very old men actively pursue me.” Renjun sighed.

“Aren’t I a nice change of pace? Or do you prefer crusty and old to hot and young?” Yukhei got up and began dramatically flexing.

Renjun laughed, thoroughly amused by Yukhei’s antics. “I don’t know, I’m so used to old and crusty that I don’t remember if I prefer it to hot and young… you’ll have to remind me.”

“Baby, you can remind yourself by looking in the mirror everyday.” Yukhei sat back down. “But if you insist, I can do the reminding myself.”

“I do insist,” Renjun confirmed.

“Finish you drink,” Yukhei ordered. 

“What?”

“Finish your drink.” he repeated. “Unless you’re done with it.”

Renjun narrowed his eyes at Yukhei, but complied anyway. “Okay, now what?”

Yukhei stood once more and scooped Renjun out of his chair without any warning.

Renjun gripped onto Yukhei’s shoulders. “Yukhei, what are you doing?”

“It’s a bit hot out, isn’t it? We should go cool off. Tell me if you want me to put you down.”

“Are you taking me out in the ocean?” Renjun asked but didn’t protest.

Yukhei didn’t respond as he adjusted his grip on Renjun.

Renjun gasped when he felt cold water hit his feet. He shivered as the water creeped up higher and higher until he was submerged in water up to his chest. Renjun tightened his grip on Yukhei.

“Is now a bad time to mention that I can’t swim?”

Yukhei held Renjun closer to him. “Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

Renjun shrugged. “I mean I’ll be fine as long as you hold onto me and stay where you can touch.”

“No, nope, we’re getting out right now.” Yukhei decided.

Once they were out of the water, Yukhei set Renjun down on the sand and sat next to him.

“You’ve really never learned how to swim?”

Renjun hugged his knees to his chest. “There was never a reason for me to learn.”

Yukhei laid his hands on Renjun’s knees and pushed them down to look Renjun in the eye. “It’s never too late to learn. Would you like to?”

“Sure, but how would I do that?” Renjun tilted his head.

“Well, it just so happens that you’re looking at a registered lifeguard! When I was in high school I had a summer job where I was a lifeguard and I taught kids how to swim.”

“That’s something you can offer me.”

Yukhei’s smile was dazzling. “Are you ready to start now?”

Renjun shrugged. “Why not?”

Yukhei was a good teacher. Before they got back into the water, Yukhei explained and demonstrated what kind of motions to make when swimming, and made Renjun practice. 

“Okay, I think you’re ready to get into the water. It’s not ideal that you’re learning in the ocean, but based on what you’ve shown it seems like you’re not afraid of the water?”

Renjun shook his head.

“Awesome! I’ll carry you out again, and we’ll just start with floating.”

Yukhei lifted Renjun, who leaned into Yukhei. When they entered the water this time, Renjun was more prepared for the cold he felt, and they only went out to where the water came up to Yukhei’s waist. Yukhei explained to Renjun what he wanted him to do and promised Renjun he wouldn’t let go of him without warning.

Before he knew it, Yukhei was walking backwards and holding Renjun’s hands as he kicked.

“I’m going to let go now, okay? You’re going to have to start moving your arms like I showed you earlier.”

Renjun nodded his approval. Yukhei let go, and suddenly, Renjun was swimming– kind of. For a moment he flailed and just tried to stay afloat, but once he managed to stay above water, he actually started to move.

Yukhei cheered loudly. “You’re doing it! You did it, Renjun!”

Renjun stood up and ran into Yukhei’s open arms. Yukhei twirled him around.

When Renjun was set back on his own two feet, he leaned up and kissed Yukhei on the cheek, watching in amusement as his ears grew red from the gesture.

“So, what else are you going to offer me?”

Jaemin had no idea what Donghyuck would want to talk to him about without Renjun around. To be honest, it was freaking Jaemin out. Donghyuck was acting like he was going to tell Jaemin he had a terminal illness and he didn’t want to tell Renjun because Renjun also had a terminal illness and was going to die before him. Jaemin really hoped that wasn’t the case.

“Nana, will you sit down with me?” Donghyuck asked.

Jaemin joined Donghyuck at one of the tables they had set up for the wedding reception.

“I want to tell you something I probably should’ve told you a long time. I understand if you’re upset, but I would appreciate it if you tried to stay calm.” Donghyuck said.

Jaemin’s mind was reeling. Donghyuck really couldn’t blame him when he blurted out what was on your mind. “I can’t handle it if both of my friends are going to die from a terminal illness, I can’t handle this information when Jisung’s getting married tomorrow!”

Donghyuck stared at his friend. “What? No– I liked Mark back when you were hooking up with him and I think I’m starting to like him again.”

Jaemin breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god.”

“You’re not mad at me for my past and current crush on Mark?”

“Hyuckie of course not! I knew you liked him back then and I was scared I was going to hurt your feelings so I tried to have all three of us spend time with him but with the whole thing with Jeno I was still sort of vulnerable and I couldn’t bring myself to turn down Mark since I had fun with him.”

“You knew?”

“You were really obvious…”

“Agh, that’s so embarrassing! I really thought I was being subtle. Do you think that Renjun knew too then?”

“Renjun totally knew! You know how he is, he figures out everything.”

“Curse him and his godly perceptiveness. Can’t hide a damn thing from him.”

“Do you think he knows this is what we’re talking about?”

Donghyuck shook his head. “I don’t think so, he doesn’t know about me seeing Mark this morning.”

“Oh? That’s what brought this all on? Tell me what went down!”

Donghyuck recounted what had occurred in the morning, making sure to specifically describe all of the moments Mark made him feel butterflies flapping around in his stomach. 

“Hyuck, I’m willing to bet money he’s totally into you, and I don’t have much money lying around. I bet he was checking you out half the time and you didn’t even notice.”

Donghyuck smacked at Jaemin’s arm. “Do not get my hopes up! Ew, I feel like a teenager again, this is so weird.”

“Embrace it, baby, you were the one telling me age is a state of mind.”

“I was referring to you being an old hag when I made that statement, do not throw my own words back at me without context.”

“You will eat your words, Donghyuck, it sucks feeling like a teenager now that it’s about you and your feelings, doesn’t it?”

Donghyuck pouted. “I still stand by the fact that you needed to loosen up. Now look at you, all loosey goosey! This is thanks to me and Renjun, you’re welcome.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m always relaxed. I’m never uptight. You two are just party animals.”

“But what if we’re not party animals and you’re just a killjoy?”

Jaemin gasped. “That’s so not funny! I am the life of the party!”

“How can you be the life of the party without ever partying?”

“You’ll see how fun I am at Jisung’s wedding tomorrow. Everyone loves being around me, I can’t help but attract attention.”

Donghyuck laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I get it, you’re a hoot Jaemin.”

“Geez, am I the one with a kid or are you? Where’d you pick up ‘hoot’ in your vocabulary? Did a middle aged white lady replace you?”

Donghyuck wheezed. “Oh my god, shut up. You say shit like that too.”

“No I don’t, when have I ever said something like that?”

Donghyuck paused. “C’mon, there’s no way I can come up with a specific example.”

“That’s because there aren’t any examples!”

“There totally are! Let’s find Renjun, he can probably tell you some specific examples.”

“He went to the beach, didn’t he? I wonder how he’s torturing Yukhei this time.”

Donghyuck scrunched his nose up. “I hope he’s being nice, Yukhei doesn’t deserve what all of his old suitors get.”

“Maybe we really should go check on him then.”

Donghyuck got up. “Let’s hurry before Yukhei collapses from stress.”

Jisung couldn’t get to sleep. Tomorrow was his wedding, he knew he should be well rested because he probably wouldn’t sleep tomorrow, but he found himself tossing and turning.

Chenle was sleeping with Yukhei tonight, so Jisung couldn’t cuddle up to him and let Chenle soothe him to sleep by running his fingers through his hair. Of course, Chenle was the reason Jisung couldn’t fall asleep in the first place. Jisung really was excited to marry the man he loved, but he felt weird. There was a pit sitting in his stomach, and Jisung knew it wasn’t just from anxiety. The only word he could put to the feeling was guilt.

That felt appropriate: Jisung was feeling guilty. There were a few reasons for his guilt. The first one was that Chenle had never wanted a wedding in the first place. He had only wanted a union between them and a promise to love each other, but because Jisung wanted a wedding, they were having one. On top of that, Jisung knew how much this wedding was stressing his dad out. Despite Jaemin’s assurances that he was fine with setting up the wedding, Jisung knew it was a lot for him, especially since his dad was already worried about the fact that Jisung was getting married at such a young age. 

But what troubled Jisung the most was the three men that Jisung had invited last minute. He had promised Chenle to tell his dad about it, but he hadn’t, which resulted in him getting Mark, Yangyang, and Jeno entangled in the lie as well. Jisung knew his dad must have freaked out when he found them. Jisung knew he should have told his dad what was going on as soon as he had found out Jaemin knew they were her. But he didn’t. And what hurt the most was that he had broken a promise to Chenle, and it was the day before their wedding and he hadn’t even told him yet. Jisung felt like the world’s worst fiancé. 

By the end of tomorrow he and Chenle would be married, and Jisung couldn’t marry Chenle without telling him the truth. He knew that tomorrow he would have to tell Chenle what he had done and face the consequences of his actions. 

None of this helped Jisung fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, Jisung. Can you tell I struggled to write some of these scenes?  
> Tomorrow's the wedding! Anyone else feeling a sense of impending doom? Jisung sure does. It'll be fine!  
> We'll see if I can fit the wedding into one chapter... I was looking at what I had planned to write and I was like whoa! That's a whole lot! But who knows? Certainly not me.  
> I really hope you enjoyed this update, I'm very excited to write the wedding day :)  
> I appreciate the comments and the kudos so much, so don't be afraid to share your thoughts with me, I'd love to hear them!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/honeyhearthyuck) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/honeyhearthyuck)


	5. You're Something I'd Been Pleading For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhhh 10k for the last chapter ig. Oops? The note at the end of this chapter is going to be long af, but for now, enjoy the final chapter!

After Yangyang had taken two laps around the villa, sat on a bench to ponder, and had a brief conversation with Renjun, he found himself standing in front of the door to Jaemin’s room, which Renjun had graciously told him the location of when they spoke.

Just as Yangyang had worked up the nerve to knock on the door, it opened, and his hand fell to his side at the sight of Jaemin.

“Yangyang? What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I wanted to talk to you.” Yangyang couldn’t bring himself to elaborate any further yet.

“Um, okay. Would you like to come in?” Jaemin stood aside and ushered Yangyang into his room.

Yangyang rocked back and forth on his heels as he took in the room. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you ever since I got here.” he admitted. “I’ve been nervous though. You obviously weren’t thrilled to see any of us, and I wasn’t sure if you’d ever want to see me again after you left Paris.”

“Yangyang, I’m so sorry I left back then without telling you.”  
Yangyang smiled. “It’s okay. We had only known each other for like a week. I was just confused, I thought we had become friends.”

“I did consider you a friend, Yangyang. I was just bad at being a friend for you. I always had so much fun when we spent time together.”

“I’m a fun guy to be around.” Yangyang boasted. “But really, I’m glad you had fun with me. I was worried I weirded you out or something. I had a lot of fun with you too, you know? It was hard to make friends at Oxford after being friends with someone like you.”

“Couldn’t find any other rebels to hang out with at Oxford?”

Yangyang laughed. “Believe it or not, no. I really thought I was sticking it to the man back then.”

“It was so cute though! And you were sticking it to  _ a  _ man. From what you told me it sounded like you dad took it really hard.”

“You remember all that? My dad certainly treated me like I was a wayward son. He got over it eventually though. When that happened I started dancing for fun and upset him again.”

“Whoa, maybe you really are a rebel!”

“Thanks, I try.” Yangyang put his hands in his pockets. “This wedding, it’s your son’s, isn’t it? Jisung?”

Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. “Did Mark tell you that?”

“Ah, no, I just–” Yangyang pulled something out of his pocket. “I wanted to give you this. With the wedding going on and running this villa– you work hard Jaemin. You deserve to afford to have what you want.”

“Yangyang, what are you doing?”

“I remember how your eyes would light up whenever I took you to do something you hadn’t heard of in Paris. You’ve always been so adventurous, and you always tried to pay me back. As much as I enjoyed all of the lavish places I took you, I had the most fun that summer when you would take me to hole in the wall breakfast places, or when we would go out into rural France and just explore and you would take pictures the whole day. No amount of money could ever be worth those memories.” Yangyang held out a slip of paper to Jaemin.

Jaemin took it and gaped in disbelief. “Yangyang, I can’t accept this!”

“But I insist. It’s a thank you, Jaem. Like I said, the memories I made with you are priceless, and this is just me trying to repay you. You deserve some help around here too, and I can’t directly offer that, but I hope this check helps.”

“Yangyang, you already paid me back in so many ways with what you did for me in Paris. I don’t think I would have enjoyed that trip nearly as much without you there. Please, take this back.” Jaemin thrusted the check towards Yangyang, but he evaded.

“I am not taking it back. If you don’t spend it on yourself, spend it on Jisung or something. Or let it make up for all of the money and effort you put into this wedding for him. Think of it as a gift from the universe for being such a spectacular dad!”

Jaemin tried to shove the check back to Yangyang again. “I can’t take your money, it’s too much, why are there so many zeroes, Yangyang.”

“I have too much money Jaemin,” Yangyang was practically being chased around the room at this point. “It won’t hurt me in any way, I’m trying to get rid of some of it. I held back because I knew you would react this way. God, you haven’t changed, Na.”

“Get back here, Yangyang!” Jaemin shouted.

“I’ll see you at the wedding, Jaemin!” Yangyang responded before running out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

“You’ll what?” Jaemin shrieked. He ran to the door and peered down the hallway, but Yangyang was out of sight.

Jisung was woken up when something heavy landed on him and stole the air from his lungs.

“Good morning, Jisungie,” Chenle cooed and pecked Jisung on the cheek.

“Chenle? What are you doing here, we’re not allowed to see each other?”

“Yukhei helped me sneak out, I missed you and I just wanted to see you this morning so that I would feel better.” He snuggled up to Jisung. “I had a lot of trouble sleeping without you, I’ve been spoiled.”

Jisung rubbed Chenle’s back and allowed them to lay in silence for a few minutes before he had to spoil the moment.

Jisung sighed and sat up, Chenle sliding off of his body to sit next to him in the process. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Mmm, okay.” Chenle leaned into Jisung and looked up at him expectantly. Jisung knew what he wanted, so he leaned in for a short kiss only for Chenle to hold him there and kiss him more. When they separated, Chenle made a face.

“Morning breath,” he complained.

“Chenle,” Jisung said more seriously. 

Chenle tilted his head. “What is it, Sungie?”

“Do you remember what I told you when you got here?”

Chenle thought about it for a moment. “Is this about Jaemin’s exes? Are they going to be at our wedding?”

“Yeah,” Jisung confirmed.

“I already told you I was okay with it, didn’t I? You don’t have to worry about what I think of them, and it’s fine that you didn’t tell me if they were coming for sure. I already knew about the possibility anyway. It was just your dad that I was worried about.”

Jisung bit his lip. “That’s the thing. I promised you I would tell my dad about what I did before they got here, and I still haven’t done it. I broke my promise.”

Chenle leaned back from Jisung, sitting up by himself. “When did they get here?”

“Three or four days ago. My dad found them before I could tell him and I heard he had a bad reaction so I was scared to tell him that I was the reason they were here. I didn’t think it would upset him like it did.”

“You still haven’t told him?”

“No,”

“Jisung, you had to have known this was a possibility. That’s why I told you to tell your dad before they got here. You could have at least told Jaemin about it when he found them. You could have at least told me what had happened when it did so we could figure this out together.” Chenle’s eyes looked glassy. “We’re supposed to be a team. I trust you and you’re supposed to trust me. Do you not trust me, Jisung?”

“Chenle, I–”

“And now we’re going to have three strangers at our wedding, and it’s going to upset your dad and– why was this so important to you in the first place? Isn’t us getting married enough? Jisung, all I want is  _ you _ .”

“I’m sorry, Chenle.”

“Tell your dad. My parents are probably wondering where I am, I have to go and start getting ready.” Chenle slid out of bed and rushed to the door, leaving Jisung alone in his room.

Jisung collapsed back on his bed and checked the time on his phone. He had slept in for once; it was ten o’clock and the wedding was in seven hours. Jisung wanted to go and follow Chenle and apologize and comfort him, but he would get caught by his dad or his parents, and he knew Chenle probably wanted some space anyway. But it hurt Jisung to see his lover so distressed. It hurt even more because he was the cause and he wanted to make things right.

Renjun did not think that he would ever be forced to talk about his love life with his friends, and he certainly did not think that if that were to happen, that it would be on the day of someone else’s wedding.

“Alright, we gave you a free pass yesterday, but you’re not avoiding it this time. Tell us what’s going on with you and Yukhei.” Donghyuck demanded.

“What– I don’t know what you’re asking from me.”

“Stop being coy,” Jaemin berated, “we saw you with him yesterday. He was teaching you how to swim! It was romantic as fuck.”

“Being taught how to swim is not romantic! It would be so weird if it was.” Renjun argued.

“Exactly! Teaching someone to swim isn’t romantic yet you two made it look romantic. Disgusting.” Jaemin said.

“He looks enamored with you, Renjun, are you just leading him on?” Donghyuck questioned.

“He does?”

“Because he’s not like the older men you usually lead on!” Donghyuck continued, ignoring Renjun’s question. “Yukhei is genuinely a really good guy and he still has on rose colored glasses, so if you’re leading him on you should cut the crap. I get that it’s fun for you to tease, but you have to draw the line somewhere.”

“What did– how’d you say Yukhei looks at me?” Renjun asked again.

“Renjunnie, you know how he looks at you.” Jaemin responded.

“But when you say enamored do you mean like attracted to me? Or actually interested in me?”

Jaemin and Donghyuck shared a look. 

“Are  _ you _ interested in him?” Jaemin asked.

Renjun covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know, at first I thought he was just really good looking and he was so flirty so I decided I might as well have fun, but he’s been so sweet to me. I haven’t met a guy that’s into me that’s sweet to me just for the sake of being sweet in a long time.”

“Junnie, why didn’t you just say so!” Donghyuck cried.

“Yeah, I totally approve if that’s how you feel!” Jaemin echoed.

Renjun removed his hands from his face and looked at his friends with wide eyes. “You don’t think it’s weird or gross or anything?”

“I’m not going to lie and say it’s totally normal, but it’s not gross.” Jaemin said.

Donghyuck nodded. “Relationships with an age gap like that exist, they’re just not common. You’re both adults, so I don’t see a problem with it.”

“Really? Why did you give me so much crap earlier then?”

“We didn’t know you were interested in Yukhei at all!” Donghyuck protested.

“God, no benefit of the doubt from my best friends.”

Jaemin roped Renjun into a hug. “We’re sorry, Junnie. We should have.”

Renjun smiled into Jaemin’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I do have a track record of stealing and breaking hearts.”

“It’s not okay, we should trust you as our friend first!” Donghyuck cried and joined in on the hug.

“Oh my god, Hyuckie, I just said it’s fine. I promise it’s not that deep. I’m not mad.”

Jaemin pulled away. “Okay, now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get down to business.”

“Wait what?”

“We need to figure out how you’re going to win Yukhei over!” Jaemin cheered.

Donghyuck laughed. “Um, I think Renjun’s had that covered since Yukhei saw him. All Renjun needs now is to figure out his own shit.

“I’ll figure out my shit! I’ve known him for like two weeks, I just need some time!” Renjun pouted.

“You’re allowed to admit your feelings for him, Junnie. After all, I fell in love with someone in a week once, so you can tell us if you love him.” Jaemin teased

“Shut the fuck up, I am not in love with him.” Renjun rolled his eyes. “Just because he’s the first man I’ve shown interest in in a while does not mean you two have to be so dramatic about it.”

“We’re dramatic about everything, how can you expect us to not be dramatic about something noteworthy?” Donghyuck pretended to collapse onto Jaemin’s chest.

“I swear, if you two act like this at the wedding reception, we’re going to have a problem.”

“How are we supposed to act then?” Jaemin asked.

“Like normal human beings that are not this invested in my love life. I will  _ not _ hesitate to block both of you.” Renjun threatened

“But we’re your best friends and we  _ are _ this invested in your love life!” Jaemin objected.

Donghyuck crossed his arms. “Cut the bullshit, Renjun, we all know you would never block us. It’s an empty threat you have used too many times.”

“One of these days I  _ will  _ follow through.” Renjun hissed. “And this is Jisung and Chenle’s wedding, your attention should just be on them.”

“Ahhh, you always spoil the fun, Renjunnie.” Jaemin pouted.

“Say another word and I will not be getting ready for the wedding with you two, and good luck finding someone else with a Natasha Denona eyeshadow palette under such short notice.” Renjun scoffed.

“You brought it with you?” Donghyuck said at the same time Jaemin asked: “You’re going to let us use it?”

“I don’t know, it depends on how you two behave. Let’s finish setting up the chairs for the ceremony, then we’ll talk.”

Donghyuck and Jaemin nodded and eagerly rushed to do as Renjun said like puppies wanting a treat from their owner.

Jisung had had an idea what his wedding day would be like since he was a kid. When Chenle proposed, his idea became more tangible, and everyday he grew more and more excited as his wedding was no longer something he dreamt about and hoped for, but was actually something he was planning and making a reality. 

Part of Jisung’s idea was always that his best friends would get ready with him and help him to get ready. Initially, that was the plan, he was to get ready with his best friends (excluding Chenle, of course), Kunhang and Dejun. But now, on the day of his wedding, Jisung only wanted his dad.

Jisung texted Kungang and Dejun to let them know the change of plans, then tucked the cover holding his tuxedo over his arm and carried it to his dad’s room. Jisung didn’t bother to knock, he knew his dad would be there, but he had forgotten his dad was getting ready with his own best friends.

Donghyuck and Renjun took one look at him before packing up their stuff and each giving Jisung a kiss on the cheek before leaving. Jisung thought he must have looked a lot more needy than he thought, which was unfortunate since he was trying really hard to hide it.

“Mochi, what is it?” Jaemin asked. Jaemin hadn’t called Jisung mochi since he was a child. Jisung didn’t think he would ever hear that nickname from his father again.

Jisung’s eyes watered up. “Will you help me get ready?”

Jaemin approached his son and wiped his thumbs over his eyes before pressing a gentle kiss on Jisung’s forehead. “Ah, you’re so tall I have to stand on my toes to do that now. Of course I’ll help you, baby. Put that down on my bed and you can go shower, okay?” 

Jisung set down the tuxedo like his dad told him to and went to the bathroom to take his shower. When he came out, his dad’s robe was laid out for him, so he put it on and came into the room, towel in hand. 

Jaemin rose from his bed and guided Jisung to sit at the vanity where he had a hair dryer, comb, and makeup set out, ready to use.

Jisung stared at the image of himself and his dad behind him in the mirror. He took a deep breath and leaned back onto Jaemin, who wrapped his arms around Jisung to pull him closer.

“Dad, I did something and I should have told you way earlier, but I was scared to.” Jisung said. Jaemin simply combed his hand through Jisung’s still wet hair in response. “I invited Mark, Jeno, and Yangyang to our wedding. I found your diary in the attic last year, and when I read it I impulsively invited them to the wedding. I didn’t think they’d show up, and when they did, I wasn’t sure what to do so I tried to hide them from you.”

Jaemin’s hand stilled in Jisung’s hair. Jisung had closed his eyes in anticipation for his dad’s reaction, but instead of a freakout like Jisung expected, Jaemin began laughing.

Jisung cracked open his eyes. “You’re not mad at me?”

Jaemin shook his head as he tried to reign in his laughter. “That explains everything, I’m glad I know. I’m not mad at you, Mochi. Why did you invite them though?”

“You always talked about when you had fallen in love for the first time and how it was foolish and I just wanted to know why. And then when I read your diary, I just wanted you to get some closure with that love, but I didn’t know if you were in love with Jeno, Mark, or Yangyang.”

Jaemin hummed. “I should have just told you about that time and why I was so hesitant with you and Chenle. I’m sorry I didn’t. I haven’t completely healed from that time in my life yet, and I don’t think I ever will because…” Jaemin bit his lip when a lump began to rise in his throat. “Because that summer was the time I lost the person I loved the most and met the next person I would love the most.”

Jaemin choked on his words and held on tightly to his son. “My sister, Jinhee. I lost her and met you at the same time. I haven’t told you nearly enough about her. She loved you so much, baby. I love you so much. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Jisung clinged onto his father’s arms.

“I don’t remember what I wrote in that diary, so you might know this already, but meeting you was the best day of my life. When I saw you, so much of my life fell into place. It felt like all of my life I had just been waiting for that moment, and when it happened I could finally start living. Jinhee would be so proud of you, Jisung.”

Jaemin broke down and buried his face in Jisung’s shoulder. Jisung guided his father to sit next to him on the vanity’s bench.

Jisung met his own watery eyes with his dad’s. “Do you really think so? Would she be happy with me marrying Chenle?”

“You love him, she would be so happy because she would know he makes you happy. She would love Chenle from the moment she met him, I know it.” Jaemin stroked Jisung’s face.

“I’m so lucky that you’re my dad.” Jisung sniffed. 

“I can’t believe you’re all grown up and getting married. You’re just a baby. And you’re always going to be my baby, no matter what, even when you have babies and you’re stronger than me and I’m frail. I’m still going to take care of you then, I promise.”

Jisung whimpered and held onto his dad tighter. “I love you, dad.”

“I love you too,” Jaemin rocked Jisung back and forth until the two of them slowed down their breathing and silenced their cries. “I want you to know I’m happy that you’re marrying Chenle. He’s perfect for you and you love each other so much. I’m sorry I wasn’t as enthusiastic as I should be because of my own experiences.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry I snooped and invited three of your ex-lovers to our wedding.”

Jaemin let out a wet laugh that turned into a cough. He got up from the bench and grabbed a glass of water for Jisung to sip on before combing his hair down.

Jisung sat with his eyes closed and basked in the silence and the sensation of the comb running through his locks. 

“Jeno,” Jaemin whispered. “I think I should tell you it was Jeno.”

Jisung didn’t respond. He knew what his dad meant, and he didn’t have anything to say, so he let it be.

Jaemin clicked on the dryer, and before Jisung knew it, he was opening his eyes again to see his dry, styled hair. The puffiness in his eyes had gone down, and it looked as if he hadn’t cried at all in the first place.

“I can do your makeup? It’ll be waterproof and I know it’ll work because my makeup stayed on, see?” 

Jisung looked up in the mirror to see his dad’s makeup was in fact, still looking perfect. He nodded and turned his body at an angle to make it easier for Jaemin to reach his face. 

“Remember your first date with Chenle?” 

Jisung hummed an affirmative.

“I was so nervous. You should’ve been the one that was nervous, but instead you were just excited while I was the one worrying away.” Jaemin chuckled. “Every time you did something that showed me you were growing up I got so worried. But what was different about this time was that you weren’t nervous, and I realized you really were all grown up. It scared me, that’s why I made you stay on the phone with me for two hours afterwards.”

Jisung laughed. “I almost slept through my morning class the next day because you made me talk to you for so long.”

“Don’t talk while I’m doing your makeup,” Jaemin scolded. “Before that, you were always so nervous for new things so I had to be strong for you. Your first day of school ever, you were in tears and when I hugged you goodbye it took a lot of convincing to get you to let go. I didn’t want you to let go either though. I couldn’t do anything that day, I just waited by the phone for a call about you so that I could come immediately if anything happened.”

Jisung didn’t respond this time, he just smiled and let his dad keep reminiscing about what he was like as a child and everything they did together. 

“Okay, all done,” Jaemin pet Jisung’s head. “Change into your suit and I’ll change into mine as well.”

Jisung changed as quickly as he could, but Jaemin still finished earlier than him, so Jaemin offered his help.

“You look so handsome, Mochi.” Jaemin cooed as he did up Jisung’s bow tie. “You’re going to take Chenle’s breath away when he sees you.”

Jisung looked at himself in the mirror. A few days before the wedding he had questioned if the black suit, cream button up, and black bowtie was too basic, but now that he was wearing it, he knew it was the right choice, especially when he thought about Chenle in his cream tux and black tie. Alone the suits may have seemed plain, but together they looked good because of how well they complemented each other.

“Dad,” Jisung looked away from his reflection to look down at Jaemin. “Could you give me away?”

Jaemin’s lips parted in surprise. “I thought you didn’t want anyone to give you away. Are you sure?”

“Yes, I changed my mind. You’ve been by my side my entire life, I want you to be my side as I begin the next part of my life.”

Jaemin’s bottom lip quivered. “Of course, I’m always going to be by your side, baby.” Jaemin pulled his son into his embrace. “God, you’re going to make me cry again. I can’t cry this many times or else my makeup will all come off when I cry during the wedding.”

Jisung laughed and held onto his dad tighter. 

Jaemin hiked up the trail to the outdoor area the wedding was being held by himself. He had sent Jisung up alone earlier so that he could sit inside in the cool air beforehand. Jaemin knew he should have left his room earlier, but he felt like he needed some time to collect himself, and he knew that Renjun, Donghyuck, and Chenle’s parents would keep everything under control. For now, all Jaemin had to worry about was keeping himself under control, which he figured wouldn’t be too hard until he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

“Jaemin!” Jaemin turned to see Jeno running towards him. 

Jaemin thought about running away, but Jeno was already close to catching up, and Jaemin was not willing to sprint in a suit, unlike Jeno.

“What do you want?” Jaemin spat once Jeno reached him.

“Just wanted to talk on the way up, you know, since we’re both walking alone.” Jeno smiled, but Jaemin didn’t respond. “I like your suit. Pink was always a good color on you.”

Jaemin looked Jeno in his blue-grey suit up and down as discreetly as he could. “That’s why I chose it.”

“Will you be giving Jisung away?”

“Yes.”

“Makes sense. I imagine you two are very close. It must have been difficult to raise him all on your own, especially with you being so young and all.”

“I wasn’t alone. The people I consider to be my family were there for me as I raised Jisung. But I assume you’re referring to the fact that I’m a single dad. In that case, I’m happy I did it alone, I’ve never needed or wanted a partner telling me what he thinks is best and giving me his opinion everywhere it’s not wanted.”

“Whoa, I’m sorry, Jaemin, I didn’t mean to offend you. I can’t understand your position, I never had kids, though I always hoped I might have one.”

“What? Your wife didn’t want any?” 

“Jaemin, I actually was hoping to talk to you about that–”

“I don’t want to talk about it. It makes me feel sad, and it’s been twenty years. I just want to move on.” Jaemin wrapped his arms around himself. “I’m sorry if I’m making you feel bad. But I can’t have this conversation, Jeno. For me, it’s still an open wound, even though you’ve long since healed.”

“Please, Jaemin–”

“No. No, I can’t. I’m sorry.” Jaemin turned and ran away from Jeno, leaving him standing alone on the path.

The wedding procession was supposed to begin ten minutes ago, but Jisung had yet to walk down the aisle because his dad was nowhere to be found. Jisung badly wanted to turn the corner and sit with Chenle to calm his nerves, but he knew he wasn’t going to be allowed to do that.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, where’s Jisung?” Jisung heard Jaemin ask.

Jisung listened to Chenle’s parents calm his dad down and eventually told him where Jisung was waiting.

“I’m sorry, Mochi, were you waiting long?” Jaemin grabbed Jisung’s hands.

“It’s okay, dad, they’re starting now, you weren’t that late.” Jisung comforted.

Surely enough, Jisung and Jaemin were soon given the signal to come outside. Jaemin held Jisung’s hand and squeezed it.

“Are you ready?” he whispered.

Jisung took a shaky breath and smiled. “I don’t think there’s any way I can be.”

Jaemin gripped Jisung’s hand impossibly tighter.

“Relax, there’s no way you’re more nervous than me right now.” Jisung murmured.

Jaemin loosened his hold a bit. “That’s our cue,” he said.

Jisung walked down the aisle of grass littered with flower petals thrown by Chenle’s little cousin hand in hand with his dad. Jisung seemed to have forgotten to breathe when he met eyes with Chenle standing at the end of the aisle, looking somehow more radiant than he did on a regular basis.

Jaemin squeezed Jisung’s hand to keep him focused on getting to Chenle without stumbling. Jisung squeezed back.

When they made it to the end, Jaemin enveloped Jisung into his arms, tears already welling up in his eyes.

“I love you baby, you’re always going to be my love and my life.” Jaemin whispered, trying in vain to keep his breathing even.

“I love you too, dad,” Jisung whispered back before letting go of Jaemin to turn in face Chenle.

The music that was playing throughout the procession cut off and everyone sat down. Chenle stared into Jisung’s eyes and mouthed “I love you,” as the officiator began the opening remarks.

“Chenle?” Jisung cut off the officiator. “Do you really want this? I know all you wanted was a signed certificate, and I feel like I never asked you if a white wedding was something you wanted as well.”

Chenle crinkled his nose. “I proposed to you, didn’t I? I knew what I was getting into when I did, and I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t okay with it. I love you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Jisung, you wanted this wedding and I would do anything for you.”

“But I could have given this up for you. And I’m still willing to give this up for you. I’ve screwed up so many times, Chenle, but I want to make it clear that I’m willing to sacrifice anything for you, because no matter how much I sacrifice, as long as I’m with you and I know you’re happy, nothing can take away my happiness.” Jisung took Chenle’s hands into his own and kissed Chenle’s ring finger.

“I feel the same way, I would have said something much earlier if I didn’t want this, Jisung. I’ve already forgiven you for all of the mistakes you made in the past and the ones you will make in the future. You’re never getting rid of me, Na Jisung.”

“I love you. God, I love you!” Jisung, overwhelmed by emotion, leaned down and kissed Chenle with fervor.

The officiator cleared his throat. “So… should I continue?”

Jisung looked at Chenle who nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

The officiator picked up where he had left off, but Jisung was hardly listening to him as he stared at Chenle the whole time. Jisung could hardly believe he had chosen such an amazing man to love and that said amazing man chose to love him back. 

Jisung cried a river of tears during Chenle’s vows, but he felt better about it once Chenle became a blubbering mess when Jisung read his own vows. 

When the officiator declared them husbands, Jisung couldn’t help but kiss Chenle, his husband, more passionately than was probably appropriate. It didn’t matter to Jisung though, because Chenle was kissing him back with just as much enthusiasm. They pulled back when their teeth clacked together and they couldn’t stop smiling long enough for their lips to meet again.

Chenle intertwined his fingers with Jisung’s, and the newly married couple ran together, rice raining down on them, cheers and laughter coming from their own mouths and everyone around them.

Jaemin approached the officiator after the wedding to apologize for the chaos and thank him for coming to the wedding. Luckily, the officiator was light-hearted about the situation and didn’t mind, he even told Jaemin that he had found it amusing and thought it was romantic, in a way.

The officiator had been in the middle of telling Jaemin a story about an objection at a wedding he had been a part of when he cut himself off. “Ah, I think someone is waiting for you. You should talk to him, he looks anxious.”

Jaemin turned around and saw Jeno staring at him, hands in his pockets and feet fidgeting. “Oh, don’t worry about him. What were you saying.”

“It looks like he has something important to say though. I have to get going anyway. Give Jisung and Chenle my best wishes.” The officiator smiled at Jaemin and walked down the aisle towards Jeno. Jaemin saw him put his hand and Jeno’s shoulder and tell him something, though he could not hear what it was. Jeno nodded and approached Jaemin once the officiator left him.

“Nana,” Jeno greeted.

“I thought I told you I didn’t want to talk, Jeno. And don’t call me that, that name is reserved for my friends.”

Jeno grimaced. “We really should talk though, it’s important. I want you to know the truth.”

“The truth is only going to hurt me more. I let you come to my son’s wedding, I’ve already done a lot for you. Don’t push my limits.”

“Jaemin, I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” Jeno reached for Jaemin, but Jaemin stepped back and avoided his touch.

“Funny, I feel like you’ve made that promise before, and look how it turned out.” Jaemin said.

“The last time was unintentional, I didn’t want to hurt you and I was unaware I was going to.”

“It doesn’t matter what your intentions were, you still hurt me.”

“I know I hurt you, and I want to apologize and explain. You have no idea how much this has burdened me.”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” Jaemin spat, “they’re not going to change anything that happened.”

“I don’t intend to change the past, I only want you to hear the full story. I promise I don’t have excuses–”

“Jeno, please. Please, I really can’t, you’re just going to hurt me more.” Jaemin cried in desperation.

Jeno scanned the area around them: there was nobody there. “Let me ask you one question then, then if you want me to, I’ll leave you alone. That’s it.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

Jeno sighed. “You don’t. I can only offer my word, which I know doesn’t mean much to you, but…”

Jaemin stared at Jeno’s face. It had changed since he had seen it decades ago. Jaemin could tell by looking at his face that Jeno had changed. “Fine. One question, that’s it. I  _ will _ want you to leave me alone after I answer it.”

Jeno took a deep breath and gently took Jaemin’s hands in his. Jaemin flinched, but he didn’t back away this time.

“Na Jaemin: I have been in love with you for two decades. I think I have loved you since the moment I saw you standing in the pouring rain, and everyday that I spent with you I fell more in love with you. Coming back to this island I knew my feelings had never really gone away, and each day that I have spent here my feelings for you have once again become a force I cannot ignore. Jaemin, will you marry me?”

Jaemin stood there with a blank look on his face. His heart was beating so hard he thought it was going to burst out of his chest and fall on the ground in front of him, causing Jeno to go into cardiac arrest. Luckily that didn’t happen.

“You– Jeno, you’re  _ married _ , I am not going to help you cheat! How dare you–”

“Jaemin, I’m not married.” Jeno interrupted. “I never got married, in fact.”

Jaemin gaped. “I– you–  _ what _ ?”

“Would you like for me to tell you what happened?”

Jaemin nodded.

“After you told me to leave, I did. I was forced to go back home because my dad was wondering what I was doing on a little island in Greece when I was supposed to be in Italy. When I got home I told my dad I wasn’t getting married to the woman you saw in the picture I had with me. My dad threw a fit, I explained to my fianceé what was happening, and by the time that all finished I flew back to Greece, went to Kalokairi to find you, but you were gone. I didn’t know where I could find you, so I just went back home.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you cheated on your fianceé with me!”

“No, it doesn’t. But my fianceé knew I wasn’t dedicated to her. My dad had set me up with her because he was convinced that I could fall in love with a woman even though I had come out to him as gay. My fianceé knew this, but she fell in love with me and asked me to think about my feelings for her on my trip. She left me that picture with the note because she wanted to make sure I would think about her.” Jeno explained.  
“Oh,” Jaemin responded smartly. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. 

“Yeah,” Jeno agreed, “Jaemin, did you love me?”

Jaemin bit his lip. “Yes, I did.”

“Do you think you could ever love me again?” Jeno’s pleading eyes met Jaemin’s.

“Jeno,” Jaemin breathed, “I never stopped loving you.”

“...Is that a yes?”

“Yes!”

Jeno squeezed Jaemin’s hands, a look of disbelief on his face. “Can I kiss you?”

Jaemin answered by removing his hands from Jeno’s and pulling him by his lapels to bring their faces close together and kiss him.

Jeno inhaled sharply, but he quickly relaxed and placed one hand on Jaemin’s elbow, and the other on his back. Jeno smiled into the kiss, causing Jaemin to break away.

“What is it?” Jaemin asked.

“I just can’t believe that after all that you kept loving me. It feels impossible.”

Jaemin smoothed his hands over Jeno’s shirt. “I was so mad at myself for still loving you. It felt impossible to me too, I thought I should have been angry and hurt enough to no longer love you, but I couldn’t get myself to stop.”

“I could never stop myself from loving you either, Nana,” Jeno swooped in for another kiss that Jaemin wholeheartedly returned.

“We should probably get down to the reception,” Jaemin giggled once they broke apart once again. “Jisung won’t start without me.”

“He’s probably too preoccupied with his husband to worry,” Jeno slipped his hand into Jaemin’s.

“You know, it’s really tacky to propose at someone else’s wedding.” Jaemin teased.

Jeno smiled. “I know, but I wasn’t sure when else I would get the chance. We don’t have to tell anyone yet– I haven’t even gotten you an engagement ring! I’ll propose to you for real later, with a ring and everything.”

Jaemin squeezed Jeno’s hand. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

Once Jaemin showed up to the reception with Jeno in tow, the festivities finally started. Donghyuck, Yukhei, Yangyang and Kunhang were all obnoxious about clinking their silverware against their glasses throughout dinner to get Chenle and Jisung to kiss, though they eventually stopped when they caught Chenle slipping tongue in. After dinner, it was easy to get everyone out on the dance floor. Jisung and Chenle had their first dance, then they made the rounds dancing with their parents and new in-laws. Once that had passed, Donghyuck, Renjun, and Jaemin took over the dance floor, encouraging others to join them. It was late by then, and everyone was loose and enjoying themselves.

“Mark looks so hot in that getup,” Donghyuck complained to Renjun while staring at Mark in his black slacks and button up.

Renjun, however, wasn’t listening. His eyes were glued to Yukhei in his blue, velvet suit, dancing with one of his little cousins. “Hmmm? Oh yeah, sure.”

“I can’t believe you’re so caught up in your own love life now that you can’t listen to me complain about mine! What am I supposed to do now?”

Renjun looked towards Donghyuck. “Go get your man and stop wallowing.”

“Hypocrite,” Donghyuck sniffed, “I’ll go get my man when you get yours.”

Renjun’s eyes widened. “I don’t– I can’t! I mean, look at him! He’s so good looking and he’s so sweet, he’s dancing with his little cousin and I can’t just interrupt that!”

Of course, at that moment, Yukhei high-fived his little cousin and passed her off to Chenle, who held his hands out to dance with her.

“Looks like he’s free now,” Donghyuck smirked.

“Fine,” Renjun huffed, “but you better go and confess to Mark or else I will do horrible things to you!”

“Wait, Renjun–” Renjun stormed over towards Yukhei, leaving Donghyuck by himself.

“Want to dance?” a voice said behind him.

Donghyuck whirled around to see Mark in all of his sexy glory. “I, uh, I already am dancing.”

“Oh,” Mark frowned, “you don’t want to dance with me then?”

“Yes! I mean, no! I– I would like to dance with you, Mark, that would be nice.”

The uptempo song that was playing slowed down and faded out into a soft ballad.

“Cool,” Mark smiled and placed one of his hands on Donghyuck’s waist and the other on his shoulder, urging Donghyuck to do the same. “It was an interesting ceremony, don’t you think? I’ve never been to a wedding like this one.”

“That makes two of us. It’s memorable, at least, and not in a bad way. I always thought if I get married, I’m going to make the wedding unforgettable.”

“Yeah? Do you have someone in mind you’d like to have that experience with?”

Donghyuck’s cheeks warmed. “Ah, no, right now I don’t have someone like that.”

“Neither do I.”

Donghyuck paused. “Would you like someone like that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve kind of been a lone wolf most of my life.”

“Well, if you change your mind, I’m the first in line, so come to me first.”

Mark raised his eyebrows. “You’re the only one in line, Hyuck.”

“That is so not true,” Donghyuck scoffed, “I have a lot of competition, the world is drooling on your shoes, Mark Lee.”

“There may be a long line for  _ Mark Lee _ , but you’re the only one turning up for just Mark.”

“Fuck, you sound so pretentious right now, do you know that?” Donghyuck smacked Mark’s arm.

Mark laughed. “Yeah, but it’s true. My point is you don’t have any competition because I only see you.”

“And you’re corny too, what a catch you are.”

“Take a chance on me, you’ll see.”

“I can’t be with a man that can only make scrambled eggs,” Donghyuck teased.

“I think you would make up for my lack of cooking skills in our relationship. But if you teach me, I’ll learn, as long as we’re together.”

“There’s a lot we can do together.”

“I know, it would be magical, don’t you think?”

“Dork,” Donghyuck muttered, taking hold of Mark’s jaw.

Mark tightened his grip on Donghyuck’s waist. “Sure, but a dork that  _ you like _ .”

“I never said that,”

“But I can tell, it’s written all over your face. I’m sure it’s all over mine too.”

Donghyuck scanned over Mark’s face, his eyes landing on Mark’s lips. Donghyuck opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t get the chance when Mark kissed him.

“So, what do you think?” Mark asked when he pulled away. “Take your time, baby, I’m in no hurry.”

“Too bad you’re not, because I’m ready to say yes. Are you sure  _ you’re  _ ready, ‘lone wolf’?”

“Hell yes, put me to the test, Hyuckie.”

Renjun had to follow Yukhei all the way back to his table, as he failed to notice Renjun approaching when he passed off his little cousin to his brother. Renjun ended up having to jog to keep up with Yukhei and his long legs. When Yukhei sat down, Renjun had to even out his breathing before clearing his throat to get his attention.

“Why aren’t you dancing? That’s where all the fun is,” Renjun said.

Yukhei looked up, and a radiant smile bloomed on his face when he saw Renjun. “I’m just a bit tired, gotta take a break so I can stay partying the whole night.”

“Oh, I thought you’d have better stamina than that,” Renjun sighed, “you’re young and I have a lot of stamina so I thought I might have found someone who could keep up with me. Guess I was wrong…”

Yukhei barked out a laugh. “Sure, I could keep going, but it’s better once you get back out there after taking a break. Why don’t you sit with me?”

Renjun scanned the chairs; all of them were covered by suit jackets and purses and shoes, so he chose the only empty seat available. “Don’t mind if I do,” Renjun sat on Yukhei’s lap, leaning back on him to get comfortable.

Yukhei raised his hands, unsure where he was allowed to put them. “You can move some stuff off of one of the chairs, if you’d like.”

“No, this is more comfortable for me. Is it comfortable for you too?”

Yukhei let his hands rest on Renjun’s thighs. “Yeah, it’s good.”

“So, if we’re going to do this, I want to know when you’ll have your PhD so I can plan out a celebration.”

“This year is supposed to be my last– you want to be around for that?”

Renjun turned his head enough so that he could see Yukhei's face. “Am I reading this wrong? You like me, don’t you?” 

“No, you’re not reading this wrong, I do like you. Just– you like me too?”

“Well do you think I would be sitting in your lap talking about seeing you a year from now if I didn’t?”

“I guess not,” 

“You’re a sweet man, Xuxi. I want to get to know you better, and I certainly want to see you again. Preferably many more times.”

“I go to school in Beijing, nowhere near you.”

“I have an apartment in Beijing. Are you trying to convince me not to see you again?”

“You live in China?”

“Baby, I’m from China. Beijing is just one of the places where I have an apartment. I can stay there and you can come visit me or I can come visit you.”

Yukhei squeezed Renjun’s thigh. “I’ll be really busy working on my thesis. I don’t want you to stay in Beijing just for me, or else you’ll be disappointed. I don’t want to hurt you, Renjun.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you. First of all, I’m going to be working if I stay in Beijing. I want to get back to publishing. Second, I promised Jaemin I’d be around here more often, and I might even come live with him eventually. I want to be there for you, but I won’t be there  _ only _ for you.”

Yukhei smiled and brushed his nose against Renjun’s. “Okay,”

“Good,” Renjun whispered. He met Yukhei’s lips, straining his neck in a way that was uncomfortable, but completely worth it to him.

“I think I’ve regained my energy,” Yukhei mumbled.

Renjun slid off of Yukhei’s lap. “You really better be able to party all night long now that you’ve had your break. I’ll be upset otherwise.”

“Trust me, you won’t be.” Yukhei responded, letting Renjun drag him by the wrist back to the dance floor.

By the end of the night, Jisung was wiped out and completely ready to go to bed. So was Chenle, who was clinging onto him and whining about nothing in his ear.

“Just a bit longer, we already talked to your parents, now we need to talk to my dad, then we can go to bed.” Jisung soothed.

Chenle agreed, but he held onto Jisung’s arm tighter and leaned more of his weight on him, forcing Jisung to practically drag him to look for his dad.

To Jisung’s surprise, they found Jaemin sitting on a bench with Jeno, Jeno’s head resting on Jaemin’s shoulder. Chenle seemed to wake up a bit at the sight.

“Hi dad,” Jisung greeted softly.

Jeno lifted his head from Jaemin’s shoulder and smiled sweetly at the couple. “Hi Jisung, Chenle. Congratulations on your marriage!” he said.

“What is it, Jisungie?” Jaemin responded to his son.

“Chenle and I want to talk to you about something.”

“Perfect, I want to talk to you about something too. Is here okay?”

“Yeah,” Jisung confirmed. Jeno moved like he was going to get up, but Jisung stopped him. “You don’t have to leave, it’s nothing serious.”

“You go first, Mochi,” Jaemin encouraged.

“After Chenle and I go on our honeymoon, we’re going to keep travelling. We don’t know when we’ll be back, but we want to travel the world together, and we figured now is the best time.”

“We’ll keep you updated on where we’re going, of course,” Chenle added in, “I’ll make sure Jisung actually calls you too.”

“That’s so wonderful. I’m happy you two are deciding to do this, you’re both so young, now’s the perfect time to do this. It will be a great beginning to your life together as husbands.” Jaemin approved. “And thank you, Chenle, I’ll hold you to that.” 

“Thanks for being supportive, dad. I’ll miss you,”  
“Sungie, you’re not leaving until tomorrow, don’t try to make me sad right now.” Jaemin pouted.

Jisung laughed and slung his arm around Chenle, who was no leaning against him again. “What did you want to tell us?”

Jaemin looked at Jeno, who gave him a nod of encouragement. “Jeno and I have decided to start seeing each other. He’s going to be staying a bit longer and he’s going to have some of his stuff shipped so he can start planting roots here. I guess this all hardly matters since you won’t be here as that starts happening, but it’s important to me that you know.”

“It matters to me so much, dad,” Jisung attested, “I have never seen you with a boyfriend in my whole life. I’m happy for you.”

Jeno smiled wide at Jisung and got up to shake his hand. “I’m thrilled that you approve. I have not stopped loving your dad since I met him.”

“Dad hasn’t stopped loving you either,” Jisung responded.

“Jisung!” Jaemin berated.

“Hey, it’s nothing I don’t already know,” Jeno soothed.

Jisung hugged Chenle close to his side. “Well, I guess my plan kind of worked then.”

Jeno furrowed his eyebrows together. “What plan?”

Jisung and Chenle’s goodbye was grand. With all of their family and friends still there from the wedding, everyone came to the dock to wish them their best. Chenle’s parents held him so tightly and for so long that Jisung decided it was best to leave them alone. He hugged his best friends goodbye, promising he’d text them and even telling Dejun they would come visit his hometown if they were still travelling by the end of the summer. Kunhang said he would meet them there too, if they did.

Jaehyun and Sicheng squished Jisung’s cheeks and fawned over him, recalling how they helped raise him and how much he had grown. Yukhei pat him on the back and told him to keep an eye on Chenle for him since he couldn’t play the protective big brother role while he was busy studying in Beijing. 

Yangyang took Jisung aside and told him all of the most romantic spots in Paris and shared with him what he did to try to woo Jaemin. Mark butt in and told Jisung that if he wanted to visit one of his studios in America, all he had to do was call him. Mark said he probably wouldn’t be there because he was otherwise occupied, but he could get them in.

Renjun and Donghyuck teased Jisung until he was red from the neck up, then cooed at him and babied him until he felt like melting in a puddle. Renjun said by the end of the trip they could come stay with him in his apartment in Beijing to catch up with both him and Yukhei. Donghyuck rolled his eyes and poked fun at Renjun before he commanded Jisung to call him and tell him what he was eating and to ask for recommendations on what kind of food he should try.

“Not that any of it will be nearly as good as mine,” Donghyuck added before Mark snuck up on him from behind and wrapped Donghyuck in a back hug as he sang praises to Donghyuck’s cooking. This time, it was Renjun’s turn to tease Donghyuck.

Once Chenle’s parents finally let him go, Jisung gave them each a hug. Right next to the boat stood Jeno and Jaemin. Chenle immediately hugged both of them and profusely thanked Jaemin for everything he had done for them, tears springing into his eyes from how grateful he was. Jaemin simply pat Chenle’s head and kissed him on the cheek, reminding Chenle of his promise to make sure Jisung calls.

Jisung hugged Jeno tightly. He whispered to him and threat and a thank you. He then made Jeno promise to take care of Jaemin while he was away.

“He doesn’t exactly need it, he’s always been so independent, but he doesn’t know when to take a break.” Jisung informed. “Please just make sure he takes care of himself and has fun every once in a while. This place is my dad’s dream so he pours out his heart into it, but it also means he doesn’t know where to stop.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him, I promise.” Jeno comforted.

“Mochi?”

“Dad,” Jisung fell into his father’s arms. He couldn’t help the tears that began to rise in his eyes.

“Take care of yourself, baby, and be safe! Make sure you’re prepared for where you’re going.” Jaemin said.

“I know, I will be,” Jisung assured, “I miss you already, dad.”

Jaemin rubbed his hand up and down Jisung’s back. “It’s just like the first day of school,” he whispered so low that Jisung couldn’t hear. “You’re going to be okay, Mochi.”

“I have so much I want to tell you, dad. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, I love you.”

A lump rose in Jaemin’s throat. “I’m so proud of you, Jisung. Thank you for being my son. I love you too.”

Jisung pulled away and Jaemin kissed him on the forehead. “You’ll tell me everything you want to say to me someday, okay? It’s okay,” Jaemin soothed.

Jisung nodded. Chenle took his hand and looked into Jisung’s eyes. “Are you ready?”

Jisung smiled. “Yes, I am.”

The couple boarded the boat together, their backs turned away from the crowd of cheering loved ones. They sat down to face all of them, hands still intertwined. Jisung shouted his love until he couldn’t hear them anymore, and waved until they disappeared into the horizon. Jisung kissed Chenle once, their foreheads still touching when their lips broke. In Chenle’s eyes, Jisung could see his future; their life had only just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, I'm crying. I can't believe I did it. If you read my very first note on this fic, then you know that writing this made me relearn my love of writing. Every moment of writing this fic was enjoyable, even though sometimes it was hard and I did cry while writing it because I made myself emotional. There are errors in this fic, I know, but I'm still damn proud of it because I followed through and I finished this thing and I had fun.
> 
> I hope all of you that have read this enjoyed reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it. It makes me so happy to see people getting joy out of what I write because I write for the joy it gives me so the fact that it makes other people happy gives me life.
> 
> I made a playlist for this fic like I said I would! If you listen to it in order it kinda follows the fic. You can find it [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/72c7oEiPOZWF3tX1yxwDAE?si=CE520IaHQVmX-_6LyWwj-g).
> 
> I plan to write more fic in the future, I currently have several ideas I'd like to start working on, so please look forward to it! Talk to me on twitter, I post about what I'm writing so you can stay updated if you'd like :)
> 
> Please leave kudos and comments if you've enjoyed this, thank you to all of you for reading this, especially those of you who've been here since the first chapter. 
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/honeyhearthyuck) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/honeyhearthyuck)


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